Walmart Stores Inc. said it will expand by more than 25% in China and renovate existing stores in a bid to reverse sales declines after a series of food scares and accounting missteps, Bloomberg reports. The world’s largest retailer plans to add 115 stores and spend 370mn yuan ($60mn) renovating about 50 of the more than 400 it currently has in China, Walmart said in a statement. The new stores will create about 30,000 jobs, according to the statement. “China is a key strategic market for Walmart,” Chief Executive Officer Doug McMillon said at a briefing in Beijing. “Over the next three years we will increase investment across our diverse business operations in China.”Delhaize Group Q1 2015 results
Belgian supermarket group Delhaize reported lower-than-expected operating profits in the first quarter on Wednesday as it invested to regain customers in its struggling Belgian business, Reuters reports. Operating profit, excluding one-offs such as store closures and reorganisation, fell 11.2% in the first quarter, at comparable exchange rates, to €173mn. In Belgium, sales at stores open for at least a year fell 2.8% in the first quarter. Profit margins in Belgium halved to 1.4% in the first quarter of 2015 from 3.1% in the same period last year. Delhaize, which makes the majority of its revenues in the United States, said comparable sales there were up 2.5% with stable operating margins. Analysts had on average expected U.S. sales growth of 2.1%. AU: Wesfarmers keeps up pressure on Woolworths
Wesfarmers has underscored the challenge ahead for Woolworths, canberratimes.com.au reports. It is taking share from its rival in supermarkets, home improvement and department stores in the March quarter and vowing to undercut rivals on key grocery products, setting the scene for an all-out price war that analysts fear could damage profit margins across the sector. Study: Aldi, Lidl M&S and Amazon most ‘meaningful’ to consumers
Amazon has topped a list of the most ‘meaningful’ brands in the UK with 64% of people saying they would care if the retailer disappeared, thedrum.com reports. M&S and John Lewis – viewed as ‘ethical’ heritage brands – followed Amazon, with discount retailer Aldi and Sainsbury’s rounding off the top five. The study was conducted by Havas and a survey of 300,000 people over 34 countries covering 1,000 brands across 12 industries.Ireland: SuperValu beats 4Q profit forecasts
Supervalu Inc. said its earnings rose 50% in its latest quarter, led by continued sales growth at its Save-A-Lot discount chain, as well as a boost from an additional week of sales, marketwatch.com reports. SuperValu Inc. (SVU) on Tuesday reported fiscal fourth-quarter profit of $39mn, cbslocal.com reports. The grocery store operator posted revenue of $4.36bn in the period.US: Kroger to promote “Fresh From Florida”
Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam H. Putnam announced today that Kroger, the country’s largest supermarket chain, is promoting “Fresh From Florida” sweet corn through an online coupon and in-store advertising campaign in more than 300 Kroger stores in seven states, southeastagnet.com reports. This is Kroger’s first partnership with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ “Fresh From Florida” campaign.Lithuania retail sales growth accelerates further
Lithuania's retail sales growth accelerated for the second straight month in March, figures from the Department of Statistics showed Tuesday, rttnews.com reports. Retail sales, excluding VAT, climbed 5.6% year-on-year in March, faster than February's 4.6% growth. Sales of food, beverages and tobacco products increased 2.0% in March from a year ago and that for non-food products rose by 6.5%.US: Safeway eyeing an IPO amid job cuts by grocer
Safeway and Albertsons have filed plans to eliminate about 800 jobs in California - including about 360 jobs in Pleasanton - even as the newly merged supermarket chain is said to be eyeing an initial public offering of its stock, according to reports Tuesday, mercurynews.com reports. AB Acquisition has hired a banking team to pave the way for an initial public offering that would be launched before the end of this year, according to CNBC. The IPO could raise $500mn, sources told CNBC. Safeway declined to comment.Tuš/Mercator feud over title 'Biggest Slovenian Retailer'
An advertising slogan has prompted a feud between retailers Mercator and Tuš, after the latter began calling itself the 'biggest Slovenian retailer' following the sale of Mercator to Croatian food group Agrokor last year, esmmagazine.com reports. Tuš claims that Mercator is not Slovenian, because its owner is Croatian company Agrokor. For its part, Mercator argues that it is a Slovenian company, both in terms of headquarters and employees (more than 12,000), and that is registered under Slovenian law.Lidl to invest €1bn in Italy
German discount chain Lidl has announced a five-year investment plan in Italy worth over €1bn, esmmagazine.com reports. As part of its Italian expansion plans, Lidl plans to recruit over 2,000 employees in two years, both for sales points and regional logistics centres.Auchan planning up to 1,500 layoffs in Italy
French retailer Auchan has announced it plans to lay off 1,500 of the 11,422 workers it has in its 51 Italian hypermarkets, esmmagazine.com reports. This follows last month’s announcement of 1,100 redundancies, before negotiations with unions broke off. According to unions, the management of Auchan Italia aims to cut labour costs by €50mn a year, due to the ongoing economic crisis.Japan retail sales slump
Japan’s retail sales fell in March, the most since 1998, cutting against central bank chief Haruhiko Kuroda’s view that cheaper energy will give a boost to the world’s third- biggest economy, esmmagazine.com reports. Sales dropped 9.7% from a year earlier, when there was a run-up in purchases ahead of an April sales-tax increase, according to trade ministry data released Tuesday. Sales sank 1.9% from the previous month, compared with a gain of 0.6% forecast by economists in a Bloomberg survey.Outreach to businesses helps Smart & Final results
Smart & Final Stores said initiatives focused on getting business customers to buy more per visit have helped boost sales at stores where the programs are in place, esmmagazine.com reports. The company has doubled its advertising budget at Smart & Final Extra stores opened in the last few months “to help build traction with local small businesses." The result is that sales to business customers at four new stores opened so far this year were 25% higher in the first five weeks after opening than they were during the first five weeks at 13 new stores opened last year. Business customers account for 45% of the company’s sales. Korea: Lotte launches drive-through collections
In South-Korea, Lotte Super plans to introduce drive-through online shopping collection, reports Korea Bizwire. The multichannel retailer will introduce the service in its Garak branch. If successful, drive-through collection may be rolled out to five or six stores. Online is a key growth channel in the Korean grocery market, with hot competition between Emart, Lotte, Homeplus and GS Retail, amongst other pure play operators. (retailanalysis.igd.com)Spain: DIA launches new fascia: ‘La Plaza’
Spain-based DIA has announced that it has reopened a converted Eroski store to a new banner: La Plaza, retailanalysis.igd.com reports. The retailer says the new format, to which most of its recently acquired Eroski stores will be converted, is ‘in line with its strategy to continue investing in the development of proximity shopping formats and especially those with a special attention to fresh produce’. The launch of La Plaza, which sees a strong focus given to fresh ranges – fruit vegetables, meat and fish – sees the first additions to DIA’s wider offer following its acquisition of El Arbol and Eroski stores in 2014. What retailers want from fresh food suppliers
Supermarketnews released the findings of its perishables state-of-the-industry survey about what retailers want from suppliers in the fresh foods arena. This is what retailers say they most need on this score: 1-Heads-up on new trends and items. 2-Further development of strategic partnerships. 3-Bigger efforts on local products. 4-More attention to independents. 5-Education for store employees. Click here to read more.