Walmart Stores Inc., the largest retailer in the world and Publix Super Markets Inc.'s most formidable opponent in Southeast Florida, is expanding its footprint across the tri-county area. The giant will have new locations open in West Palm Beach, Dania Beach, Sunrise and Miami's Midtown this year. (bizjournals.com)Metro's sales and profit growth supported by strong fresh food sales -
Metro’s first quarter sales increased by 4.3% to $3.0bn, with same-store sales up 2.8%. Much of the improvement in fresh foods is being driven by the investments which Metro is making in its store network. This year it will be spending $300m to deliver 10 new stores and 30 major renovations. (igd.com)Qatar 'ready' to back Sainsbury's $1.4bn bid for Argos
Qatar Investment Authority, a 25% shareholder in J Sainsbury, has reportedly indicated that it could back the UK supermarket giant if it makes a renewed offer for the owner of retailer Argos. The Times newspaper reported on Wednesday that J Sainsbury is close to securing the support of its largest investor for a new bid for Home Retail Group, reportedly worth £1bn. (arabianbusiness.com)Israel: Shufersal to bid for 20 Mega stores
Israeli supermarket chain Shufersal will bid for 20 Mega stores, sources inform “Globes”. The Mega supermarket chain has 127 branches 102 “in the city” branches, 8 which operate under the Mega name, 13 Zol Bashefa branches, a lone YOU branch, and three discount YOU stores. The Mega trustees Adv. Ehud Gindes, Adv. Amir Bartov, and Gabi Trabelsi, CPA have said they wish to sell the supermarket chain in its entirety but experts believe the chain will eventually be split, even if a large chunk of branches are sold to a single buyer. (globes.co.il) Walmart’s shutdown creates new food deserts
An Associated Press analysis shows that the closing of more than 150 Walmart stores nationwide will create three food deserts in Alabama, Kansas and Arkansas. Stores slated to shut down Thursday will leave residents in parts of Fairfield, Alabama; Coal Hill, Arkansas; and Wichita, Kansas, without a supermarket. (ksn.com)New Danish grocer selling bruised apples and damaged food boxes
In February, Folkekirkens nødhjelp will be opening Denmark's first supermarket with a social profile. The store will sell goods that would otherwise have been sorted out and discarded. Fruits with brown marks or small impacts, cereal packets that are slightly damaged or boxes with the wrong label are some of such goods, which will be sold with up to 50% price reductions. The goal behind this is to help ensure that people throw less food away. Danes annually waste about 700,000 tonnes of food. The name of the supermarket will be Wefood. If the concept is successful, it will expand with the opening of more stores. (nyheter)Digital Foodie & Wynn's Market launch online grocery service in Florida
Digital Foodie, creator of the award winning Foodie.fm platform, and Wynn's Market, a grocery retailer, have signed a partnering agreement to open up a home delivery and store pickup service at two locations in Florida, USA. Wynn's Market will use Foodie's personalized online grocery platform to provide its customers a modern online ordering service. (marketwatch.com)AU: Woolworths slugged with $11million-plus in damages after losing Masters case
A landowner has won his battle against Woolworths for abandoning its lease over a Masters store in the regional Victorian city of Bendigo, delivering an $11 million-plus blow to the retail giant. The Supreme Court of Victoria found Woolworths had failed to act in good faith with private property developer North East Solution after it ditched a deal with the company to chase a lease on another site in Bendigo being pursued by rival hardware chain Bunnings. (smh.com.au) Russia: Magnit's supermarets performed well in 2015
Magnit’s revenue in 2015 grew by 24.5% to USD16bn. The like-for-like sales grew by 6.2% in comparison to 14.5% in 2014. The net profit grew by 23.4% to (USD1m and profit margin was 6.2%. Significantly lower like-for-like sales growth (6.2%) suggests that the revenue growth was driven by the store openings and double digit food inflation. Magnit Family supermarkets were retailers’ best performing grocery format in 2014 (with like-for-like sales 19%), their performance deteriorated significantly in 2015 to like-for-like sales growth 0.6% (-3.5% in traffic and 4.3% in basket). (igd.com)UK: Ocado moves higher ahead of results
Online grocer Ocado has been volatile in recent weeks, with worries about the outlook for its business amid increased competition vying with talk of a possible takeover from the likes of Amazon. Ahead of its results next week, the company’s shares have added 8.5p or 3% to 270.8p after falling a similar amount on Tuesday. There has been no news on a promised international deal, while Amazon’s grocery service could prove a threat (unless the US group decides to snap up Ocado for itself). Click here what analysts at Barclays said in the Guardian.