Tesco abandons three times as many stores as rivals
Loren Wade has been working at Walmart since 1983, and on Saturday, the retail giant will celebrate his 103rd birthday with a party in his honor, time.com reports. The World War II veteran is a full-time associate at the Winfield, Kansas store, where he works in the lawn and garden department. “The company seems to like me and I appreciate it so much if they still let me work,” Wade told a local FOX affiliate. “They are so good to me. It’s a great company”
AU: Fresh items for Coles agenda
It was two months ago that Woolworths boss Grant O’Brien vowed to “neutralise Coles”, but that seems to be news to Coles' CEO John Durkan who, far from conquered, is now forging a stronger link with his fruit, vegetable and other grocery suppliers to highlight Coles’s “fresh” credentials and open up an even bigger gap between him and his competitor, businessspectator.com.au reports. “I can’t say I have been neutralised by Grant, no I can’t say that’s true,” Mr Durkan told The Australian after unveiling a new TV campaign around Coles’s -improved fresh offer and the launch of the supermarket’s first-ever awards night for suppliers. “We look at (Woolworths) as very strong competition, and we have to make sure that we are ahead of, and on our game, and the best thing we can do is delight our customers and if we do that it will be a struggle to “neutralise” us.” Coles will put more staff hours into its fresh fruit and vegetable departments — the earnings driver of any supermarket — with more and better trained employees walking the aisles to help shoppers with their questions and shopping list needs. (Click here to read more at businessspectator.com.au)
Philippines: 7-Eleven boosts net income
7-Eleven posted a net income of $7.8m for the first half of 2015 on the back of aggressive store expansion and improved average sales, rappler.com reports. Philippine Seven Corporation (PSC) 7-Eleven's local franchise holder reported Monday, July 27 that the latest net income was up 10% from $7.1m in the same period last year. In a financial report filed with the Philippine Stock Exchange, PSC said system wide sales rose 24.3% for the first half of the year to $267.9m from $214.5m recorded in the same period a year ago.
UK: Tesco abandons three times as many supermarkets as its rivals
Tesco has abandoned three times as many new supermarket sites as all of its rivals put together over the last five years in a fresh sign that the “space race” is over, telegraph.co.uk reports. The grocer has slammed the brakes on 62 development sites across the country over the period as part of its efforts to cut costs while it struggles to turn the business around, according to figures complied by Barbour ABI exclusively for The Telegraph. The Tesco figure is considerably higher than the 49 original sites that chief excutive Dave Lewis announced in January he was to jettison, as part of his overhaul of the supermarket giant. Mr Lewis also said at the time that Tesco would, as part of his radical shake-up, close 43 loss-making stores in a move that put 2,000 jobs at risk. The number of abandoned stores is more than four times the highest figure of Tesco’s “Big Four” rivals: Sainsbury’s has abandoned 13 supermarket sites; Morrisons four; and Asda just two over the same period - a total of 19 against Tesco’s 62.
India’s Reliance Q1 profits up
India's Reliance Industries, which also owns a supermarket chain, announced better-than-expected profits Friday as income from core operations of refining and petrochemicals offset the impact from the slump in global oil prices, ccifc.org reports. The Mumbai-based firm owned by Mukesh Ambani, India's wealthiest man, said in a statement that standalone profit in the three months until June 30 rose 11.8% to $987mn.
UK: Morrisons buyers demanded one-off payments from suppliers
Buyers at Morrisons have attempted to secure one-off payments from about 20 suppliers in a potential breach of a government-backed code, with only “a handful” blocked by the supermarket’s legal team, theguardian.com reports. A government-backed code prohibits one-off demands and states that supermarkets must not “vary any supply agreement retrospectively”, except in very specific circumstances. An internal email from Morrisons’ legal team, seen by the Guardian, also tells buyers to get advice on how to continue to demand one-off payments from suppliers but satisfy regulators. Last week, the grocery watchdog said it had demanded an explanation from the supermarket after a letter sent to suppliers, revealed by the Guardian, demanded “a lump sum payment” in order to support the retailer’s half year profits. The watchdog said: “At this stage, the GCA has no evidence that Wm Morrison has breached the code.”
US: Amazon releases Q2 results
Amazon.com, Inc. Friday announced financial results for its second quarter ended June 30, 2015, businesswire.com reports. Operating cash flow increased 69% to $9bn for the trailing twelve months, compared with $5.3bn for the trailing twelve months ended June 30, 2014. Free cash flow increased to $4.37bn for the trailing twelve months, compared with $1.04bn for the trailing twelve months ended June 30, 2014. Net sales increased 20% to $23.2bn in the second quarter, compared with $19.3bn in second quarter 2014.
US: Wal-Mart’s e-commerce goal: Reach 95% of customers in 2 days or less
A new e-commerce fulfillment center in Pennsylvania, at 1.2mn square feet, expands the retailer’s reach, internetretailer.com reports. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is stepping up its e-commerce fulfillment efforts as it continues to try and grab a greater slice of the e-commerce market. The world’s largest retailer opened a new 1.2mn-square-foot e-commerce fulfillment center in Bethlehem, Pa., this week. The new facility will employ 400 workers and, Wal-Mart says, boasts state-of-the-art automation and warehousing systems. A spokesman for Wal-Mart, No. 3 in the Internet Retailer 2015 Top 500 Guide, declined to say how many fulfillment centers it owns and operates in the U.S. but said the retailer plans to open four large e-commerce fulfillment centers by the end of the year with the goal of being able to deliver online orders to 95% of the U.S. population in two days or less.
US: Albertsons/Safeway to hire hundreds of workers
Albertsons and Safeway stores in Northern Colorado will hire hundreds of employees over the next several months to meet the demands of new departments and offerings throughout the stores, coloradoan.com reports. “Our goal is to be the favorite local supermarket for every one of our shoppers by making sure they have an outstanding experience in our stores and it all begins by investing in our employees,” said Susan Morris, president of Safeway Albertsons Denver Division.
US: Bozzuto's affiliate buys Tri-Town Foods
Tri-Town Foods, a two-store IGA operator in Colchester, Conn., has been acquired by Intercontinental Holding Co., an affiliate of Tri-Town’s supplier, Bozzuto’s Inc., supermarketnews.com reports. Tri-Town Foods operates stores in East Lyme and Portland, Conn. Intercontinental Holding operates 12 supermarkets in New England under the Adams Hometown Markets, Better Val-U Supermarkets and Jerry's Market banners. Stores are expected to continue to operate as Tri-Town Foods for the time being.
UK: CMA clears Netto-Co-op stores deal
The Competition and Markets Authority has cleared the anticipated acquisition by Netto of three grocery stores from Co-operative Group, stockmarketwire.com reports. The CMA says it has decided, on the information currently available, not to refer the deal to a phase 2 investigation under the provisions of the Enterprise Act 2002. The text of this decision will be placed on the Competition and Markets Authority's web site at www.gov.uk/cma as soon as is reasonably practicable.
China: Alibaba launches incentives to boost its online supermarket
Tmall.com, e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's business-to-customer platform, is aggressively boosting its online supermarket offering with a massive national discount campaign, starting in Beijing, ecns.cn reports. Experts said the move is expected to pose a major threat to rivals in the country's nascent online superstore market, such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc's yhd.com. Hangzhou-based Alibaba is offering cash incentives of as much as 1bn yuan ($161mn) for Beijing consumers who order on Tmall Supermarket between July 23 and 31. Zhang Jianfeng, the president in charge of Alibaba's retail business unit, said Tmall Supermarket will be able to make use of Alibaba's vast e-commerce ecosystem, including its supply chain and logistics network, and payments systems, to establish itself as a major player in the emerging online supermarket sector. The announcement came as US retail giant Wal-Mart confirmed it had taken full control of China's leading online supermarket, the Shanghai-based yhd.com.
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