Costco opens its 100th warehouse in Canada
Costco opened the doors to a 149,000-sq.-ft. warehouse - and the discount chain’s 100th in Canada - in Nisku, Alberta, on Wednesday morning, just a stone’s throw from the Edmonton National Airport. The store includes Costco’s usual array of specialty departments including an on-site bakery, fresh meat, fresh produce and rotisserie chicken sections, a tire centre, pharmacy and an optical centre.
Source: canadiangrocer.com
Costco opened the doors to a 149,000-sq.-ft. warehouse - and the discount chain’s 100th in Canada - in Nisku, Alberta, on Wednesday morning, just a stone’s throw from the Edmonton National Airport. The store includes Costco’s usual array of specialty departments including an on-site bakery, fresh meat, fresh produce and rotisserie chicken sections, a tire centre, pharmacy and an optical centre.Source: canadiangrocer.com
US: Kroger to phase out plastic bags at all stores
The nation's largest grocery chain has begun to phase out the use of plastic bags as more Americans grow uncomfortable with their impact on the environment. Kroger Co. will start Thursday at its QFC stores in and around Seattle, with the goal of using no plastic bags at those stores at some point next year. The company said it will be plastic-bag free at all of its nearly 2,800 stores by 2025. Kroger Co. orders about 6bln bags each year for its stores in 35 states and the District of Columbia, which cater to almost 9mln people daily through two dozen different grocery chains.Source: nzherald.co.nz
US: Sprouts to debut 1st PA store
Sprouts Farmers Market will open its first Pennsylvania store September 19, in Philadelphia. The new store, according to PhillyVoice.com, will be located at Lincoln Square, a new mixed-use development project in South Philadelphia. The supermarket will be housed inside a 32,000-square-foot historic retail shed. By the end of this month, Sprouts will have opened at least seven new stores, although most are located in, or planned for, the western United States. Currently, the closest locations to the Philadelphia store are two stores in the Baltimore area.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
Sprouts Farmers Market will open its first Pennsylvania store September 19, in Philadelphia. The new store, according to PhillyVoice.com, will be located at Lincoln Square, a new mixed-use development project in South Philadelphia. The supermarket will be housed inside a 32,000-square-foot historic retail shed. By the end of this month, Sprouts will have opened at least seven new stores, although most are located in, or planned for, the western United States. Currently, the closest locations to the Philadelphia store are two stores in the Baltimore area.Source: progressivegrocer.com
China: Alibaba revenue beats on strength in e-commerce, cloud businesses
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, the world’s biggest online retailer, topped first-quarter revenue estimates on Thursday, driven by growth in its core e-commerce business. Alibaba’s U.S.-listed shares rose about 3% in premarket trade. The company’s revenue rose 61% to 80.9bln yuan ($11.77bln) in the April-June period, compared with the average analyst estimate of 80.7bln yuan, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Source: reuters.com
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, the world’s biggest online retailer, topped first-quarter revenue estimates on Thursday, driven by growth in its core e-commerce business. Alibaba’s U.S.-listed shares rose about 3% in premarket trade. The company’s revenue rose 61% to 80.9bln yuan ($11.77bln) in the April-June period, compared with the average analyst estimate of 80.7bln yuan, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.Source: reuters.com
South Africa: Retailer Massmart's profit hit by muted consumer spending
Retailer Massmart Holdings reported a drop in half-year profits on Thursday due to restructuring costs and weak consumer spending. The company, part of Walmart Inc, had direct costs of 110mln rand ($8mln) related to the restructuring of some components of its wholesale and discount businesses. Sales decreased by 2.2% to 42bln rand despite a fall in the costs of durable goods as consumers limited spending to priority items such as food, in light of increased financial pressures, Massmart said in a statement.Source: reuters.com
Coop Netherlands to open its first converted Emté store
Coop Netherlands has announced that it will open the first of its 51 Emté stores on 18 September 2018, according to a press release. The new renovated Coop store is located in Gilze. The opening of the store will mark the beginning of the integration of Emté stores under the Coop banner. The retail giant expects to open at least 20 Emté stores by the end of 2018.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Coop Netherlands has announced that it will open the first of its 51 Emté stores on 18 September 2018, according to a press release. The new renovated Coop store is located in Gilze. The opening of the store will mark the beginning of the integration of Emté stores under the Coop banner. The retail giant expects to open at least 20 Emté stores by the end of 2018.Source: esmmagazine.com
Poland: Retail sales and consumption should moderate in 4Q18
Retail sales slowed down in July from 8.2% to 7.1%YoY, in real terms, which was close to the market consensus of 7.4%YoY. Turnover in other durable and semi-durable goods slowed after a strong month in June, which chiefly reflects lower trade of electronics and household appliances as well as food and drinks, suppressed by the end of World Cup-related spending. Sales slowed from 14.4% to 4.4%YoY and from 3.1% to -0.6%YoY respectively. The drop in the overall dynamics was only moderate thanks to the simultaneous increase of motor vehicles sales accelerating from 9.8% to 16.7%YoY, which pushed the headline figure up by 0.7pp.Source: think.ing.com
UK's competition watchdog to investigate Sainsbury-Asda merger
UK’s competition regulator is starting a formal investigation into the proposed merger of supermarket chains Sainsbury and Walmart’s Asda. The Competition and Markets Authority said it will begin the first phase of detailed assessment into how the deal could affect competition for UK shoppers.
Source: in.reuters.com
UAE: Majid Al Futtaim success in Kenya
UAE-based retailer Majid Al Futtaim has reported strong results in its Kenya stores: a 143% rise in turnover for the first six months of 2018. This is due to its rapid expansion within Nairobi. It doubled its footprint in 2018, opening three new stores. It has opened a total of six stores in Kenya since it entered the market in 2016. This is one of its strongest growth markets, with existing stores also performing well. The positive performance is expected to continue as local retailers Nakumatt, Tuskys and Uchumi continue to struggle and close stores. This creates a gap in the market for the Carrefour branded stores to expand into. The retailer plans to open a further four stores soon, with no exact dates announced yet.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
UK’s competition regulator is starting a formal investigation into the proposed merger of supermarket chains Sainsbury and Walmart’s Asda. The Competition and Markets Authority said it will begin the first phase of detailed assessment into how the deal could affect competition for UK shoppers.Source: in.reuters.com
UAE: Majid Al Futtaim success in Kenya
UAE-based retailer Majid Al Futtaim has reported strong results in its Kenya stores: a 143% rise in turnover for the first six months of 2018. This is due to its rapid expansion within Nairobi. It doubled its footprint in 2018, opening three new stores. It has opened a total of six stores in Kenya since it entered the market in 2016. This is one of its strongest growth markets, with existing stores also performing well. The positive performance is expected to continue as local retailers Nakumatt, Tuskys and Uchumi continue to struggle and close stores. This creates a gap in the market for the Carrefour branded stores to expand into. The retailer plans to open a further four stores soon, with no exact dates announced yet.Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
Central England Co-op is launching relaxed checkouts at two of its stores as part of a pilot project to support vulnerable customers. The Ripley food store in Derbyshire and Oakham food store in Leicestershire are introducing the checkouts for customers who need extra time at the till. Checkout operators have been trained to identify customers’ special needs and work at a speed that suits them. It is hoped the designated ‘extra time’ checkout lanes will prove useful for elderly shoppers and those with mental health needs, social anxiety, Alzheimer’s, dementia and autism. Gavin Glidewell, store manager at Ripley, said: "We are really proud to be trialling the extra-time checkout project for our customers and members. The special lane means that there will be no rush or pressure to get items on the conveyor belt and packed away at the other end."Source: thenews.coop
Holland: Supermarket group Jumbo looks to Belgium, buys recipe website
Dutch family-owned supermarket group Jumbo is looking at potential expansion in Belgium, the company said at the presentation of its half-yearly figures on Wednesday. ‘Jumbo has begun to get to know the Belgian market and has signed contracts for its first supermarket locations,’ the company said in a statement. ‘To ensure the introduction of Jumbo to the Belgian market runs smoothly, we are currently building up a dedicated Jumbo Belgium operation.’Source: dutchnews.nl
Delivery Hero buys Romanian online food order service
Delivery Hero, one of the biggest food delivery platforms in the world, which is present in Romania through foodpanda, took over local delivery service hipMenu. With this transaction, Delivery Hero expands its local operations to over 10 cities and becomes the leader of the online food order market in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Timisoara, Oradea and Iasi, the group announced.Source: romania-insider.com