The newspaper Dagens Næringsliv reports that Coop will cut up to 550 jobs after the acquisition of ICA's Norwegian stores, adressa.no reports. "Our task now is to build new Coop, which should be a better and more competitive organization than before. To achieve this, there will unfortunately be downsizing and changes for some employees," says acting CEO Geir Inge Stokke to DN. Both Coop and Ica have struggled with a declining market share in the retail trade in recent years. Competitors Norway Group, with chains Kiwi and Meny, and the group Rema 1000 have, however, grown in an industry that last year reached 160bn crowns in turnover (€18.3bn).Ireland: BWG’s €23m acquisition of Londis cleared by watchdog
Retail group BWG’s €23m acquisition of the Londis franchise has been given the green light by the Competition Authority, irishtimes.com reports. The move will give BWG, which already owns the Spar and Mace chains, approximately 50% of the convenience market here.The Londis franchise supplies about 200 stores in Ireland which generate about €195m in annual sales. US: Unions: A&P for sale
Labor unions representing workers at A&P and its banner companies on Monday said they had confirmed that the retailer is actively seeking buyers and has received interest from several potential purchasers, supermarketnews.com reports. The company however would not confirm such plans to Supermarketnews.com, who talked to a spokeswoman.Aldi Süd is testing a new concept for fruit and vegetables
Aldi Süd is testing selling loose fruits and vegetables in their fruit and vegetables department, lebensmittelzeitung.net reports. For a long time, Aldi refused to sell loose fruits and vegetables in the self service department. In comparison to the competition, which is using this selling method for years. German Rewe celebrating new regional warehouse
As reported in the Hannoversche Allgemeine, Rewe celebrates a topping-out ceremony for its new regional warehouse, haz.de reports. It is said that the new warehouse is as large as 1.2 million refrigerators. From November, Von Berkhof will supply the regional warehouses of Rewe with fruit and vegetables, in six provinces. Within sight of highway 7, there will be about 250,000 tons of food handled annually in the 18-million-euro project. India: BigBasket to set up small warehouses across the country
Online grocer BigBasket is setting up a number of small warehouses across the country to be able to ship orders faster to customers under its express delivery service. It will also use the warehouses to expand into smaller towns, the Economic Times reports. BigBasket will establish about 10 such warehouses, or so-called dark stores, in each metro city in its network, and one each in 50 towns. Consumer Behaviour: Age most important factor
Age the most important factor determining our grocery shopping and eating habits, according to a study (by Future Thinking), internationalsupermarketnews.com reports. Those aged between 16-34 feel it is more difficult to get by on their tight food budget. Only 74% of 16-34 year olds include fruit and veg in their diets compared to 98% of over 55s. Tesco.com most visible UK supermarket site
Tesco.com is the most visible British supermarket website in mobile phone searches on Google UK, performing three times better than nearest rival, Asda.com according to a new study released today, internetretailing.net reports. US: Target selling pharmacy for $2bn
Target will sell its pharmacy and clinic businesses to the drugstore chain CVS Health for about $1.9bn in a deal that combines the resources of two retailers seeking to polish their health care reputations, yahoo.com reports. Target’s sale would allow Target to sharpen its focus on “reinventing food” while benefiting from increased traffic and sales, said Target chairman and CEO Brian Cornell during a call with investors Monday, supermarketnews.com reports. 
German Metro Group sells Galeria Kaufhof for €2.8bnGerman department store operator Metro AG agreed Monday to sell its department store chain Galeria Kaufhof GmbH to Canada's Hudson's Bay Co. in a deal valued at 2.825bn Euro or $3.16bn, including assumed liabilities, rttnews.com reports.
Lidl doubles its media spend in UK
Discounter Lidl has more than doubled its marketing spend on paid media in the UK since 2013 as it continues in its attempts to veer customers away from the 'big four' supermarkets, esmmagazine.com reports. According to campaignlive.co.uk, Lidl's marketing spend has increased from £21m in 2012-2013 to approximately £50m in 2014-2015.Interesting links on retail:
Walmart’s corporate spin can’t defend shady food suppliersClick here to read the article.
Why Tesco needs to raise £5bnClick here to read the article.
Aldi, Woolies sign grocery code: Why Bruce Billson is calling on Metcash to do the sameClick here to read the article.