The new joint purchasing centre set up by retail groups Intermarché and DIA in Portugal is aiming to sign contracts with 50 suppliers by September, esmmagazine.com reports. During a press call, the management of the two groups reaffirmed that this partnership will not lead to a merger between the two groups, but is designed to help the two partners gain competitiveness when negotiating prices. The CEO of Intermarché, Anne Saintemarie, said that agreements with 32 suppliers have already been reached, but the goal is to have 50 by September, with roughly half from Portugal.France: An old Simply Market to become Simply Market Gourmand
LSA-conso.fr reports that the Simply Market at Parly 2 (Yvelines) is getting old and will be made into a Simply Market Gourmand after the summer. The company ensures that this is the only store that they are making more premium. Despite rumours, it is reported that transforming this store into a Simply Market Gourmand is not in relation to the partnership between Système U and Auchan as plans were made before the alliance. France: Casino transforms their first Dia stores bought off Carrefour
According to lesechosdelafranchise.com and information from Linéaires, the Casino group have begun to transform the 10 or so Dia stores that they have bought off Carrefour. 2 stores have already been made into Leader Price stores and others are expected to follow, whilst one store will be made into a Spar. Carrefour has also announced the cession of a second round of stores that are not profitable, or that they cannot adapt to their concept.US: Wegmans among EPA Safer Choice Partner of the Year honorees
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) honored Wegmans Food Markets as one of 21 organizations to earn a Safer Choice Partner of the Year Award on Monday, recognizing the company’s commitment to retailing Safer Choice products, epnewswire.com reports. German Aldi to introduce free solar-powered car charging stations
German supermarket chain Aldi is to install charge points for electric cars outside its stores so that customers can replenish their vehicle for free while shopping, globalconstructionreview.com reports. The first 47 sockets will be introduced in the west German city of Düsseldorf. According to Aldi, they will be able to charge an electric car in 30 minutes. Florian Kempf, head of energy management at Aldi Süd, said: “Sustainability and climate change affect us all. With the ‘Fill up on Sun’ project, we want to inspire our customers to choose an environment-friendly form of mobility.UK: Nisa suffers £3m loss – first in company history
Nisa has revealed that it made a loss of £3m last year – the first loss in the 38-year history of the business, betterretailing.com reports. Describing the year as “difficult”, new chief executive Nick Read said that the loss could be put down to a number of reasons, but said that he was confident that the business would turn around this year, betterretailing.com reports. Read said that the company had hoped to do £120m of additional sales last year from its existing base, but they fell short of this optimistic prediction and ultimately saw turnover dropped from £1.6bn in 2013/14 to £1.4bn in 2014/15.New York City says Whole Foods is overcharging customers
Whole Foods supermarkets have been routinely overcharging customers by overstating the weight of prepackaged meat, dairy and baked goods, New York City's consumer chief said Wednesday, foxnews.com reports. Because the city's investigation of Whole Foods is ongoing, penalties have not yet been assessed, Menin said. Fines for falsely labelling a package can be as much as $950 for the first violation and up to $1,700 for subsequent violations. The department said Whole Foods had thousands of potential violations.Chinese Alibaba Group announces expansion of cross-border e-commerce initiatives
Alibaba Group announced today an expansion of its cross-border e-commerce initiatives, including the launch of 11 official country pavilions on its Tmall Global platform and cooperative partnerships between Juhuasuan, Alibaba’s group-buying platform, and 26 foreign embassies in China, businesswire.com reports. A total of 11 countries, including United States, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, France, Britain, Spain, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Turkey will launch country pavilions on Tmall Global, an extension of Tmall.com China’s largest third-party B2C platform for brands and retailers.Italy: Conad to invest €950m in development plan
Italian retailer Conad is planning to grow its operations internally but also through acquisitions, as part of an three-year investment plan worth €950mn, esmmagazine.com reports. The retailer's 2015-2017 Development Plan foresees an average annual growth rate of 3.9%, with investments amounting to €366mn this year, €308mn in 2016 and €276mn in 2017. In addition to the opening of new stores, significant resources will be allocated to the restructuring of commercial formats and opportunities for external growth. The main acquisition targets will be independent shops, local chains and those owned by international groups that could leave the Italian market. US: Jersey City grocery bag supplier says A&P owes it $3.7M
A Jersey City-based grocery bag and container supplier has filed suit against A&P's parent company, saying the struggling supermarket chain is refusing to pay a debt of close to $3.7mn, northjersey.com reports. US: Instacart now delivering from Asian-inspired grocery store
Instacart today announced a partnership with Asian-inspired grocery chain H Mart to offer delivery to customers, in as little as one hour, marketwatch.com reports. Beginning today, H Mart will bring its top-selling, high-quality products to the Instacart platform - including its extensive selection of ready to eat items such as curries and KimChi, its fresh assortment of meat and produce, and its core dry goods and ramen products - fulfilling H Mart's promise of fresh food at value prices. Customers in Cambridge, Boston, and the immediate surrounding areas can choose from virtually any item carried at their local H Mart store and have delivery right to their doorstep within one hour or in a later one-hour window of their choosing. Prices on Instacart will be the same as in H Mart stores. Interesting links on retail:
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