The SPAR wholesaler for the north of England, James Hall, has acquired the 30-store regional convenience store chain, North East Convenience Stores (NECS). The deal will see NECS' Nisa-badged stores converted to SPAR in the coming months, boosting the network of over 600 SPAR stores serviced by the James Hall business across the northern region. (igd.com)Amazon and UK Government work together to advance drone deliveries
Amazon has announced a partnership with the UK Government to explore the steps needed to make the delivery of parcels by small drones a reality, allowing Amazon to trial new methods of testing its Prime Air delivery systems. Prime Air is a future delivery system from Amazon designed to safely get packages up to 5 pounds to customers in 30 minutes or less using small drones. (igd.com)McDonald's, U.S. restaurants losing food fight with grocers
McDonald's Corp said the U.S. restaurant industry will raise prices far more than supermarkets this year, sending a chill through a sector that is searching for ways to protect itself from higher worker wages. Bernstein analyst Sara Senatore said restaurant companies, which are grappling with profit-squeezing minimum wage increases, use more labor than grocery stores and have the extra burden of trying to convince franchisees to hold back on price increases aimed at offsetting higher labor costs. (igd.com)Spanish grocer DIA signals turnaround in home market
Spanish discount grocer DIA's like-for-like sales grew in the second quarter in all the countries it operates in, it said on Wednesday, signalling a long-awaited turnaround in its home market. Like-for-like sales, which strip out acquisitions to enable comparisons, had fallen every quarter for the past three years in DIA's main Iberia market, encompassing Spain and Portugal. They grew 1.7% in the April to June period compared with a year earlier, DIA said. The supermarket group also operates in countries such as Argentina and Brazil, where depreciating currencies have hurt earnings when converted into Euro. Without the currency swings, net sales would have risen 10.7%, DIA said. (Reuters)UK: Tesco and Holland and Barrett in pilot partnership
Supermarket chain Tesco and ‘health and wellbeing’ store Holland & Barrett have announced a pilot store-in-store partnership in a number of Tesco stores across the UK. Both businesses are confident their brands will work successfully alongside each other. (esmmagazine.com)Lidl to focus on metropolitan areas
Lidl will focus on expansion its new larger stores with focus on metropolitan areas like Brussels and London. In the UK, Lidl sees potential for up to 280 new stores within M25. The store development plan includes also more affluent boroughs such as Mayfair, Chelsea and Notting Hill. (igd.com)Slovenia’s Tuš embarks on restructuring programme
Slovenia’s Tuš Group has commenced a process of 'preventive restructuring', with the rescheduling of its financial liabilities until 2020. The agreement on the restructuring of the retail and real estate group was confirmed by a Slovenian court in May. With €380 million in outstanding loans, Tuš Group agreed with creditors in January the rescheduling of financial obligations. (esmmagazine.com)Double platinum for German Edeka annual report in LACP contest
German retailer Edeka’s Annual Report 2015 has been placed in the top ten Annual Reports worldwide, in a competition held by the League of American Communication Professionals (LACP). For the second year in a row, the retailer's report scored 99 of 100 points. The only platinum award-winner in the category of ‘Retailing – Food & Specialty’, Edeka also won platinum for the report’s cover design. Overall, the report reached 9th place among 1,000 applicants from 25 countries. (esmmagazine.com) US: Whole Foods distribution center to bring 150 jobs to Pullman
Whole Foods is expanding its reach in Chicago by building a new distribution center. It is expected to employ about 150 people and will serve Whole Foods stores throughout the Midwest, including 25 grocery stores in the Chicago area and three new stores in Hyde Park, Englewood and Evergreen Park. (abc7chicago.com)China: Sheng Siong rings in higher profit
Supermarket operator Sheng Siong Group reported an 11.3% rise in second quarter net profit to $15.2 million. Revenue for the three months to June 30 was up 5.5% at $188.8 million, mainly due to contribution from new store sales. Comparable same store sales grew mainly as a result of a general improvement in sales at the older stores and the resumption of its McNair Road store which was closed for almost a month in the second quarter of last year for a total refurbishment. (straitstimes.com)
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Philippines: Metro Retail opens in Negros
Metro Retail Stores Group Inc. (MRSGI) is strengthening its hold in the Visayas retail market with the opening of its first store in Negros Oriental. MRSGI said in a stock exchange filing Monday that it entered into a 25-year lease agreement with the local government of Bais, Negros Oriental. It said it would lease a building owned by the city government of Bais, which will be turned over in March 2017. The leading Visayas retailer plans to build a hypermarket, offering food and general merchandise retail. (business.inquirer.net)