The convenience store franchise, Centra, will open 20 new stores this year and revamp 100 others as part of a €20 million investment plan. The Musgrave-owned chain also grew sales last year by 3 per cent to €1.59 billion, delegates will be told Monday at its annual conference in Killarney. Centra said the expansion will create about 460 new jobs, as it continues a retooling of its store network to capitalise on a structural shift in the convenience grocery market towards healthier options. (irishtimes.com)Spanish Lidl to open 10 stores this month
The supermarket chain Lidl is boosting its expansion in Spain with the opening of 10 stores in the month of February, which will generate 120 new jobs and for which it will invest 30 million Euro, according to a statement from the retailer. The first openings will take place in Sant Boi de Llobregat (Barcelona). (EFE)Online retailer Amazon looking to open convenience stores in UK: Reports
Online retail giant Amazon is reportedly searching for high street locations in central London at which to open Amazon Go convenience stores, according to reports. The store concept is checkout-free, and will work along similar lines to the company's pilot store in Seattle. (esmmagazine.com) Alberth Heijn and Delhaize planning to co-operate more intensively
Once the eight Belgian Albert Heijn stores are sold and the merger between Ahold and Delhaize is officially completed, AH and Delhaize will cooperate much more closely, Albert Heijn's CEO Wouter Kolk told De Financiële Telegraaf. The merged group aims at exchanging knowledge and expertise. (gondola.be) US: Ingles boosts sales, earnings in Q1
Heavier foot traffic helped Ingles Markets post increases in sales and earnings during its fiscal first quarter, the retailer said in financial filings Wednesday. For the period, which ended Dec. 24, Ingles said net sales increased by 3.3% to $982.8 million, and comparable store sales excluding gasoline increased by 1.8%. Net income for the quarter totaled $13.8 million, a 1.4% gain from last year’s first quarter. Click here to read more at supermarketnews.com. Amazon's sales and profit up in Q4
Amazon's Q4 sales increased 22.4% to $43.74bn, in the three month period ending December 31, and the retailer reported a 55% rise in profit to $749m from $482m in 2015. Operating income increased 13% to $1.3bn in Q4, compared with $1.1bn in Q4 2015. Revenue of $43.7bn (up 22%) was below analysts' estimates of $44.7bn, meaning its share price fell in after-hours trading. For the full year 2016, net sales increased 27% to $136bn, compared with $105bn in 2015. (igd.com)Tesco rejects claims it aims to cut 1,200 employees in Ireland
Tesco has rejected claims made by an independent TD in the Dáil that it intends to get rid of 1,200 jobs in Ireland. A spokeswoman for the supermarket giant said on Friday there would be “no job losses”, but said there was an option to take voluntary redundancy. (irishtimes.com) Albert Heijn increases Dutch food market share
Food stores group Albert Heijn increased its share of the Dutch market in 2016, easing up to 35.4% from 35.1% in the previous year, according to the annual survey by market researcher IRI Nederland. SuperUnie, which includes the Plus, Deen and Spar labels, lost a fraction of its market share, falling 0.1 percentage point to 29.6%. Jumbo was ranked third, with market share up at 18.5% from 17.4% after it acquired the C1000 stores. (dutchnews.nl) Waitrose goes green with Veggie Yoghurt
UK retailer Waitrose has decided to take advantage of the increased popularity of healthy eating by creating a private label vegetable-flavoured yoghurt line. The new yoghurt range has created some interesting mash-ups with ingredients such butternut squash, avocado, carrot, and beetroot, paired with ginger, guarana, and matcha green tea. (esmmagazine.com)Inside Amazon’s robot-run supermarket that needs just 3 human workersPlease, click here to read the article.
Marsh Supermarkets’ financial struggles have long history
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War of convenience as supermarket chains take on small storesPlease, click here to read the article.
With freely available trading data, why aren’t supermarket suppliers providing perfect service?Please, click here to read the article.