Canada proved to be a huge disaster for retailer Target, minnpost.com reports. In January, the company announced plans to exit Canada. In its announcement Target pegged the losses for the Canadian exit at $5.1 billion. The company’s annual filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission indicates that the company will get a tax break as a result of the losses in Canada. According to the filing: "We have recognized a tax benefit of $1.6 billion in discontinued operations, which primarily relates to the loss on our investment in Canada and includes other tax benefits resulting from certain asset write-offs and liabilities paid or accrued to facilitate the liquidation."SPAR International launches stores in Lebanon
SPAR International has launched their first two stores in Beirut, in line with their robust expansion plans into the Lebanese market in 2015, internationalsupermarketnews.com reports. Speaking about the expansion of SPAR into the Lebanese market, Dr Gordon Campbell CEO of SPAR International said "These store launches mark another significant milestone in the development of the SPAR brand in the Middle East."Russia's X5 Retail Group aims to speed up growth in 2015
Russia's second-biggest food retailer X5 Retail Group expects to deliver faster sales growth in 2015 and open more stores than last year, its chief executive said on Monday, Reuters reports. "We will grow more than we did last year at each of our formats but the range and potential of that growth is such that it would be meaningless to try and guide you today," Stephan DuCharme said on a conference call. X5 is planning more capital spending than last year, partly due to the impact of higher inflation. In 2014, it spent $585 million mainly on opening 907 stores and refurbishing 523 others. Sales at X5 rose 18.6 percent last yearAldi Süd's Hofer eyeing Slovak market
Discount chain Hofer, the trading name of Aldi Süd in Austria, has once again cast its eye on the Slovak market, esmmagazine.com reports. Hofer's PR manager told Hospodárske Noviny daily said: "Aldi Süd, parent company of Hofer, keeps the potential foreign markets under review. For strategic reasons we cannot disclose more information". According to an expert interviewed by the newspaper, Hofer may find Slovakia interesting.UK: Morrisons accused of stealth warning
Morrisons has been accused of issuing a “stealth profit warning” by Bernstein analyst Bruno Monteyne, yorkshirepost.co.uk reports. Mr Monteyne said a closer look at the Bradford-based group’s annual results revealed that profit margin targets have been cut. He said in a note: “I know we criticised Morrisons’ management for not being more up-front about cost of further repositioning and not resetting margin consensus. Seems like we got it all wrong ... working through all the guidance we got, we spotted a stealth profit warning.”Germany: Rewe 'not interested' in Tengelmann stores
Rewe CEO Alain Capaross has revealed the German retailer has no interest in buying Tengelmann's Kaiser's stores that Edeka could have to hand over to a third party in its prolonged takeover bid, esmmagazine.com reports. Belgian Delhaize seeking to minimise food waste
Belgian retailer Delhaize has announced plans to donate one hundred percent of all unsold products to food banks and social institutions by 2020, Belgian newspaper sudinfo.be reported on Monday.US: Fresh & Easy shuttering stores to advance c-store plan
The decision by Fresh & Easy to rationalize its store base will help it move closer to its goal of creating a unique fresh-food convenience store, the company said. To achieve that goal, Fresh & Easy plans to eliminate locations that are either underperforming or do not fit the parameters of its new approach. Fresh & Easy operates 167 stores, of which 50 are scheduled to close, sources said — encompassing 30 in Southern California, supermarketnews.com reports. UK: New Morrisons CEO invests £1m in supermarket shares
New Morrisons boss David Potts has signalled his faith in the troubled retailer by buying more than £1M of the supermarket’s shares. Morrisons confirmed David Potts had bought 508,000 shares at 205.85p per share, yorkshirepost.co.uk reports. Hungary's competition watchdog fines Auchan HUF 1 bln
Hungary's competition watchdog has fined the Hungarian unit of French retailer Auchan 1 billion forints ($3.6 million) for abuse of its market position, the authority said on Monday. The GVH watchdog said in a statement that Auchan had charged its suppliers a special fee for allowing their products to get into Auchan's stocks of products on sale, Reuters reports. The unit's CEO said in a statement: "Our company did not breach the law, therefore we will use all accessible legal means to prove that and we trust that the court will see clearly". Bi-Lo looking for local goods
Bi-Lo wants to encourage more locally made goods at its grocery stores throughout the Carolinas, charlotteobserver.com reports. The Greenville, S.C., grocery chain is expanding its “Bi-LOcal” program, which gives local businesses the chance to have their products sold at local Bi-Lo stores, in North Carolina and South Carolina.Tesco senior independent director quits
The senior independent director of Tesco is to quit, bringing yet more change to the board make-up of Britain's biggest retailer, Reuters reports. Tesco said on Monday that Patrick Cescau will retire after six years at the firm. Stop & Shop withdraws their walnut
Stop and Shop a chain of supermarkets in U.S., Representatives from Stop & Shop told press that they take back walnut and trail mix product because it was infected with salmonella, themarketbusiness.com reports.