Walmart has taken the decision to shut down ten per cent of its Brazilian hypermarkets (about 60), commenting that it will “close the stores that should be closed,” telesurtv.net reports.Drive-Through supermarkets could be revolution (video)
Grocery shopping is a chore hated by many, and online services have become increasingly popular for helping customers avoid crowded aisles and the struggle of carrying heavy bags. But, these services can require hours or even days to process an order, and for picky shoppers, selecting the best items is something that must be done personally. Now, a Russian inventor has come up with the solution to please everyone—drive through supermarkets, where everything you need is on cascading shelves and you never have to get out of the car. Russian inventor Semenov Dahir Kurmanbievich has filed a patent application for drive through supermarkets to make shopping convenient and fast. (dailymail.co.uk)
Latin America: Casino continued strength in food operations (Q4)In its Latin America-based operations, Casino enjoyed positive organic and same-store growth in its food-oriented businesses, at 5.7% and 1.3% respectively. (igd.com)
US: Fresh Direct launches new speedy grocery service
Leading US-based, online grocery retailer, Fresh Direct, has launched a new service which aims to deliver products within an hour of an order being placed. FoodKick is an urban focused service which is initially focusing on the Brooklyn and Queen’s neighbourhoods in New York. It has been designed as a mobile-first service, and is able to deliver meals, ingredients and alcohol. This expands its competition beyond other online grocery services such as Amazon Fresh, Peapod and Instacart to include companies such as Blue Apron and Plated which deliver meal ingredients. (igd.com)Italian confectionery Dolcitalia joins VéGé Group
Italian retailer VéGé Group has signed a cooperation agreement with Dolcitalia, Italy’s confectionery sector leader with a 30% market share and €290m turnover. (esmmagazine.com)German Rewe CEO criticises ministerial decision over Edeka-Tengelmann
Alain Caparros, the CEO of Rewe Group, has criticised the decision by Germany's Economics Minister, Sigmar Gabriel, to give the green light for Edeka to take over Tengelmann's Kaiser's operation. (esmmagazine.com)Ahold USA transfers warehouse operations
Ahold USA announced plans Thursday to transfer their Lancaster and Cheektowaga warehouse operations to C&S Wholesale Grocers in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. Six hundred employees will be affected by the move. (wgrz.com)Walmart plans tie-ups with online retailers in India
American retail major Walmart is learnt to be exploring ways to tie up with leading e-commerce companies in India, including Flipkart, Snapdeal, ShopClues, Grofers and Bigbasket, to tap the growing online retail opportunity eight years after it entered the country. While the USD486-billion top retail chain of the world had earlier toyed with the idea of entering the online space to sell its products to Indian consumers, it is now actively considering the option. (retailinasia.com)US: SpartanNash to close three area stores
Supermarket operator SpartanNash will close three Omaha-area stores and will spend $14m to remodel eight others this year, as competition and changing consumer tastes alter the local landscape for grocery retailers. (omaha.com)
Big C Thailand sales improve in Q4
Big C Thailand announced that Q4 sales declined 3.1% to THB 31.0bn (US$0.85bn), an improved performance on the previous quarter. Big C saw an improving sales trend throughout the fourth quarter owing to its continued focus on products and price. (igd.com)China: Alibaba opens physical store
Alibaba has opened a bricks and mortar store in the north China port city of Tianjin, located to the south east of Beijing. The new store is part of a 20,000 sq m retail outlet that is located in the Tianjin Free Trade Zone (FTZ) and will sell imported products. Bestway announces financial results for 2014/15
Major UK cash & carry wholesaler Bestway has announced its financial figures for the year ending 30 June 2015, showing sales down 4.2% to £2.27bn, driven by tough trading conditions across the sector, created both by increasing competition and long term price deflation. Profit before tax stood at £44.6m, down 10% on 2013/14. (igd.com)Swiss Denner reports 'solid' year
Swiss discounter Denner, part of Migros, has reported a 0.3% fall in group net turnover for 2015, to CHF2,916m (€2,674m). Company-owned stores saw their turnover rise by 0.3%, where customer traffic increased by 2.8%. (igd.com)Carrefour reports 4th year of annual sales growth in EU
Carrefour SA, France’s largest retailer, reported Q4 revenue that met analysts’ estimates, boosted by Spain and Italy, achieving a fourth year of annual growth. Revenue rose 2.4% on an organic basis to €22.4bn ($24bn), Boulogne-Billancourt, France-based Carrefour said Friday in a statement. Analysts expected €22.6bn, according to the median of estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Sales rose 2.5% in Spain and 3.5% in Italy. (Bloomberg)UK: McColls boosts Christmas trading with seasonal ranges
Major UK convenience retailer McColls has announced performance figures for the six weeks over the Christmas period, ending 10 January 2016, revealing a total sales increase of 3.3%, boosted by its ongoing store acquisition programme. Like-for-like sales were slightly down on -0.7%, though this showed an improvement on the performance in Q4 when like-for-likes were -1.8%. (igd.com)UK: Market headwinds impact Booker in Q3
Leading UK food and grocery wholesaler, Booker has reported a like-for-like sales fall of 3.1% in the 16 weeks to 1 January, with its performance weakening versus its Q2 statement (10 weeks to 28 August) when its like-for likes were down 1.8%. (igd.com)Japan: Lawson reports solid Q3
Lawson, the second largest convenience store chain in Japan, reported an impressive 20% increase in consolidated operating revenues from 1 March to 30 November 2015. Lawson saw a strong sales performance in its consolidated Q3 with gross revenue increasing by 20% from last year to JPY 435bn, which was contributed by robust growth in net sales (up 44% to JPY 166bn), franchise commission and other operating revenues (up 9% to JPY 269bn). Meanwhile, operating profit expanded by 3.8% to JPY 62bn, whilst net profit contracted 4.5% due to a drawdown on deferred tax assets and higher extraordinary losses for the period. (igd.com)Shoprite Nigeria procures 76% of products sold locally
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