Asda has revealed its worst sales figures since the 1990s, confirming that it is now the poorest performing of the “big four” supermarkets, theguardian.com reports. Sales at established Asda stores fell 3.9% in the 15 weeks to 19 April, the worst since the UK’s second largest grocer began reporting quarterly figures in 2006. Thailand: Tesco Lotus buying fruit directly from farmers
The Ministry of Commerce is collaborating with grocery and merchandise retailer giant Tesco Lotus in preventing low fruit prices, by having the latter buy fruit directly from farmers’ cooperatives for its stores, novinite.com reports. Some 10m kg of the fruit will be purchased from the cooperatives to be sold at roughly 1,800 stores operated by Tesco Lotus in Thailand.Walmart sales miss estimates
Walmart said sales at stores open more than a year increased 1.1% in the 13 weeks ended on May 1 from a year earlier, Reuters reports. Analysts polled by research firm Consensus Metrix had expected a 1.5% rise. But sales of groceries, which account for more than half of the company's total, were flat, CEO Charles Holley said on a call with reporters. Walmart's net profit fell to $3.34bn, or $1.03 per share, in the first quarter ended April 30 from $3.59bn, or $1.11 per share, a year earlier. Revenue dipped to $114.83bn from $114.96bn. Shares of the world's largest retailer tumbled 4.3% after it reported sales and earnings below analysts' estimates. Its profit outlook for the current quarter was largely below expectations.Walmart Canada sales lift
Walmart Canada Corp. got a solid first-quarter sales lift even while the world’s largest retailer faced challenges in its U.S. home market. Walmart enjoyed a 1.8-per-cent sales gain at existing Canadian stores, outpacing the 1.1-per-cent increase at its core U.S. outlets. Its first-quarter overall sales here rose 3.7% (3.5% in the U.S.) as the discounter raced to add more groceries to its stores here. Customer spending picked up 1.7% in the quarter in Canada but just 0.1% south of the border, theglobeandmail.com reports. Walmart Canada’s expansion streak will continue: It has a deal to buy 12 store leases plus one owned store and a distribution centre from Target Corp. for $350-million after that retailer wound down its operations in this country. That’s in addition to adding 29 supercentres with full food sections in 2015.
Walmart's Q1 in Latin America
Walmart has revealed a 6.6% fall in international sales for Q1 fiscal 2016 impacted by foreign currency effects, IGD.com reports. Click here to read more about Walmart in Latin America.
Bulgarian producers claim Carrefour owes them €10M
Bulgarian producers have not received BGN 20 M (€10m) in payments owed to them by supermarket chain Carrefour for deliveries made over the past two years, Made in Bulgaria trade union claimed at a press conference Tuesday, novinite.com reports. Bulgarian producers stated that they are not going against any particular market chain but instead will be asking them all to comply with the already existing EU legislation. Retail sales in Scotland fell last month
Sales fell year-on-year by 2.9%, with food sales dropping 4.6%,
bbc.com reports. South Africa's Spar H1 earnings jump 22%
South Africa's second biggest grocer by value Spar Group reported higher half-year profit on Wednesday, helped by the first full contribution from a newly acquired company as consumer spending at home remain muted, Reuters reports. Sales jumped 40.7% to 36bn rand ($3bn). AU: Coles to step up own brand push
Coles will expand the number of its own branded products to drive growth, after its rival Woolworths declared plans to match Aldi prices, theaustralian.com.au reports. The supermarket giant’s managing director John Durkan told analysts at a Wesfarmers strategy briefing that Coles will also move away from discounted promotional pricing to “stable everyday pricing” of its own brands.US kosher supermarket chain takes over Hartmans
The retail kosher food industry in Toronto is about to experience a shakeup, cjnews.com reports. Savours Kosher Market ULC, a U.S.-based corporation that operates kosher supermarkets under a variety of names along the Eastern Seaboard, is entering the Toronto market. "This last quarter has been unprecedented. We have seen deflation in the market and exponential shifts in the industry," said Asda chief executive Andy Clarke, the BBC reports. He does not expect much improvement in the year ahead.US: Instacart launches in Miami, reveals Whole Foods sales
Grocery delivery company Instacart on Tuesday launched in Miami, supermarketnews.com reports. Shoppers in the area can order from Whole Foods Market, Costco, Winn-Dixie, BJ’s Wholesale Club and Petco stores and have everything delivered by Instacart in as little as one hour. Instacart customers do not need a Costco or BJ’s membership to shop from those stores, although additional charges may be applied to those orders. Instacart in the same release revealed that Whole Foods, which partners with Instacart in 15 cities, is seeing an average of $1.5m in weekly sales through Instacart.US: Tops opens two new stores
Tops Friendly Markets added two new stores this week near Rochester, N.Y. — a ground-up store in Walworth and a location the company acquired and remodeled in Lyons, supermarketnews.com reports. The company said the stores are part of its ongoing capital investment in the Greater Rochester area, which has amounted to more than $25m over the past three years.US: Safeway says closings based on local decisions
Closures of Safeway stores in a variety of the chain’s operating divisions are local in nature and are not part of any larger pattern, supermarketnews.com reports, after speaking with Safeway. “Store opening and closure decisions are an ongoing part of the retail grocery business,” a Safeway spokesman said, adding there is “no pattern here” to nine closings in Denver, two in Phoenix, two in Fresno and two in Northern California that have been announced over the last few weeks.SA grocery shoppers ripe for digital channels
South Africa's burgeoning connected commerce era means that consumers are no longer shopping entirely online or offline but rather taking a blended approach, using whatever channel best suits their needs, bizcommunity.com reports. This is one of the key findings of the just released Nielsen Future of Grocery Report based on a survey that polled 30,000 online respondents in 60 countries to understand how digital technology will shape the retail landscape of the future.Abu Dhabi Co-op to manage Souq stores across UAE
The Abu Dhabi Co-operative Society has signed an agreement with the Abu Dhabi Farmers’ Services Centre (ADFSC) that will see it manage the latter’s Souq stores in the UAE, retailanalysis.igd.com reports. The agreement will see Abu Dhabi Co-operative Society manage the Souq shops in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and the Western Region for the next 10 years. ADFSC will receive an annual sales%age from the Co-op and the agreement will enable it to have access to the stores for the promotion of locally produced products. Middle East: new stores and managing souqs
EMKE-owned LuLu has said that it opened a new retail complex at Oman’s Defence Ministry, while it is planning to add a further five hypermarkets in the country over the next 18 months, retailanalysis.igd.com reports. In relation to the retailer’s expansion plans for the short term, LuLu’s chief executive, Yusuff Ali, said: “Lulu has become an integral part of Oman’s landscape over the last few years and we are committed to extending our footprint with plans to open five new stores in the next 18 months.”