The grocery chain is expanding organic-food brands, removing some artificial ingredients from its products, and adding more gluten-free items in hopes of attracting more health-conscious shoppers. The chain's prices on fresh produce and packaged goods are roughly 30% lower than Walmart's, according to a recent price check. Please, click here to read more at uk.businessinsider.com.Retail sales in Ukraine fell by almost 21% for the year
According to the state’s statistics service, retail trade turnover in Ukraine (not including the occupied Crimea and the war zone) fell by 20.7% in 2015, compared to 2014, to 1,02 trillion hryvnia, reports rian.com. According to the report, retail trade turnover decreased the most in the Lugansk and Donetsk regions - 71.5% and 66.4%, to 7.9bn hryvnia and 31.2bn hryvnia, respectively. The smallest reduction of retail trade turnover was observed in the Kiev (12.5% to 52.1bn hryvnia) and Kirovohrad (by 12.6%, to 21.7bn hryvnia) regions. At the same time, retail turnover in Kiev in 2015 fell by 14.6%, to 158.5bn hryvnia. (1 Ukrainian Hryvnia =0.041 USD)Lidl confirms building stores in eight East Coast states
As part of an effort to acquire sites for its US store expansion, Lidl has launched a new website detailing its preferred site criteria, and guidelines for potential suppliers. The site confirms that the retailer is seeking to build stand-alone stores of 36,000 square feet in dense population markets in eight East Coast states between New Jersey and Georgia. (supermarketnews.com)US: Albertsons, Haggen reach litigation settlement
Albertsons said Friday it will pay $5.75m to Haggen to settle a lawsuit the Pacific Northwest chain filed against it last fall. “Although we firmly believe the claims asserted lacked any merit, the settlement enables us to avoid costly litigation,” Albertsons said in a statement. “We are pleased to put this matter behind us.” Albertsons said the cash payment is incremental to a previously recorded loss of $41.1m related to the inventory purchased by Haggen in the second quarter of fiscal 2015 and $29.8m related to its contingent liability for leases that Haggen rejected in the third quarter. (supermarketnews.com)Estonia: Rimi's regional e-commerce solution
Rimi, Swedish market leader ICA’s fascia in the Baltics, is reportedly creating a pan-Baltic e-commerce solution and plans to launch an online store in Estonia in the future. Competitors Maxima and Selver already offer an online shopping and home delivery service in Estonia. Online has also been a priority for ICA in Sweden, with an online grocery service available in 150 Swedish stores at the end of 2015. A survey of the retailer’s online shoppers revealed that ‘those who have started shopping online spend 22% more at ICA and become loyal to ICA’. (igd.com)UK: Tesco to plan £1.4bn debt repayment
Tesco is planning to take its biggest step in rebuilding its balance sheet by repaying £1.4bn of its borrowings over the coming months. Britain’s largest supermarket continues to have a £17.5bn debt hangover from its rampant boom-time expansion. It is currently facing two looming repayment deadlines: it has to return £1.1bn to bondholders by September, and a further £330m in January next year. Market sources said work is already taking place on the bonds as they are typically paid or refinanced six to 12 months in advance of the maturity date. (telegraph.co.uk)Amazon to create 2,500 UK jobs
Amazon says it will take on 2,500 new permanent staff in the UK this year, bringing its total number of UK employees to 14,000. The online retailer will also create thousands more jobs elsewhere in Europe. It is investing to expand its European operations, including its warehouses, known as fulfilment centres. The company currently employs 40,000 people in Europe and last year created 10,000 jobs. It says it has invested more than €15bn (£11.5bn) on European infrastructure and operations since 2010, with £4.6bn in the UK. Amazon said the jobs would be added across its business operations in the UK. (BBC)French E.Leclerc annual turnover increases to €35.6bn
E.Leclerc has boosted its annual turnover by 3.4% (an additional €1.1bn), and enlarged its customer base and hold on the French hypermarket sector, LSA-Conso.fr reports. Its 2015 turnover stood at €35.6bn, taking its share of the French supermarket retail market to 20.2%. It also increased the capacities of its online and click-and-collect services throughout the calendar year. (esmmagazine.com)US: Convenience direction for HEB
US retailer HEB, has announced plans to develop a new convenience format, which will be its smallest yet. The retailer is looking to open an upscale convenience store in Bandera, Texas. The proposed 700 SQ M store would comprise of a mini-mart, gas station and car wash. (igd.com)Japan: convenience chains work together for expansion abroad
Four major convenience store operators -7-Eleven Japan, Lawson, FamilyMart and Aeon’s Ministop - have formed a council with the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO). They will work together to accelerate their overseas expansion under the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The TPP accord will deregulate rules on foreign retailers operating and distributing in some partner countries, such as Vietnam and Malaysia. This will unlock more opportunities for Japanese convenience store chains to open more stores and/or invest in local retailers. Despite Japan’s sluggish economic growth and weak domestic consumption, the sales at convenience stores rose 0.9% in 2015 to JPY 9,297.4bn, up for the first time in four years. (igd.com)Kenya: Uchumi reveals new franchise arrangement and expansion plans
Kenyan supermarket chain Uchumi has reveals plans to shift to a new franchise arrangement with 200 mini shops as part of its turnaround strategy, reports AllAfrica.com. The chain plans to use small branded shops that stock low-volume packed items to target the micro-market, while it seeks to regain its foothold in Kenya after undergoing financial difficulty. (esmmagazine.com)
Greek exports made easier through supermarketsPlease, click here to read the article.
Target’s multibillion-dollar disaster could happen againPlease, click here to read the article.