US: SpartanNash launches career website
SpartanNash has launched a brand new careers website that highlights its current associates and adopts the theme “Sounds like SpartanNash.” Pictures and testimonials of associates are peppered throughout the new job-surfing experience, which was designed to provide ease of navigation along with the catchy theme. Yvonne Trupiano, EVP, chief human resources and corporate affairs and communications officer, said the company's associates are what makes it a "best-in-class business that feels local, where relationships matter," adding that its goal was to put these associates front and center when designing the new career website.
Source: winsightgrocerybusiness.com
Amazon continues to expand Whole Foods delivery service
Customers across four more markets are now eligible for Amazon’s free two-hour delivery service from Whole Foods Markets. The online giant said it has launched free two-hour delivery from Whole Foods through Prime Now in Columbus and Dayton, Ohio; Portland, Oregon, and the greater Washington D.C. region. In addition, Amazon has expanded its New York City coverage to include customers in Greenwich Village, Chelsea, Union Square and Murray Hill.
Source: chainstoreage.com
SpartanNash has launched a brand new careers website that highlights its current associates and adopts the theme “Sounds like SpartanNash.” Pictures and testimonials of associates are peppered throughout the new job-surfing experience, which was designed to provide ease of navigation along with the catchy theme. Yvonne Trupiano, EVP, chief human resources and corporate affairs and communications officer, said the company's associates are what makes it a "best-in-class business that feels local, where relationships matter," adding that its goal was to put these associates front and center when designing the new career website. Source: winsightgrocerybusiness.com
Amazon continues to expand Whole Foods delivery service
Customers across four more markets are now eligible for Amazon’s free two-hour delivery service from Whole Foods Markets. The online giant said it has launched free two-hour delivery from Whole Foods through Prime Now in Columbus and Dayton, Ohio; Portland, Oregon, and the greater Washington D.C. region. In addition, Amazon has expanded its New York City coverage to include customers in Greenwich Village, Chelsea, Union Square and Murray Hill.Source: chainstoreage.com
Snappmarket tapping into the online grocery market in Iran
Snapp, the online transportation network giant, has partnered up with HyperStar, the subsidiary of French multinational retailer Carrefour in Iran to tap into the Iranian online grocery market with a new brand named Snappmarket. The two companies have started working together from the beginning of this summer. HyperStar is taking care of the vendors and the fulfilment process and Snapp is taking care of the app and deliveries. Snappmarket apps are released for iOS and Android devices, however, for the start, it would only accept orders from certain neighborhoods in Tehran. Currently, there are 7 HyperStar stores in Tehran. Snappmarket plans to open up its own warehouses in the upcoming year in order to speed up the process due to the limited number of HyperStar stores in Tehran.Source: techrasa.com
UK: Asda opens merchandising centre of excellence
Supermarket giant Asda has opened its new Merchandising Centre of Excellence (MCE) close its existing head office in Leeds. The facility, located on the former Pentair site on Great Wilson Street, includes a full-size model store for mocking up different shelf layouts and a state-of-the-art virtual reality lab, where Asda and its suppliers can test store layouts and construction plans virtually. The site also includes a 650-seat auditorium, where Asda will host conferences for colleagues and suppliers, as well as 148 colleague parking spaces.Source: insidermedia.com
India: BigBasket teams up with GMETRI to launch VR shopping experience
The online grocery and food products provider, BigBasket, has announced that it will soon be bridging the gap between the online and physical store shopping experience by offering customers a virtual reality (VR) store. The new VR store will allow users a chance to look around and browse products just as they would in a physical store and then inspect them by interacting with them, before moving on to place an order. This new platform is being developed by Bengaluru-based VR startup GMETRI, The News Minute reports. The startup was founded in early 2017 by Utsav Mathur and Sahil Ahuja and builds immersive virtual and augmented reality (AR) experiences designed to function on online across all devices. Now they are working with BigBasket to bring their VR shopping platform to life.Source: vrfocus.com
Germany: Double anniversary for Netto Marken-Discount
German supermarket chain Netto Marken-Discount is celebrating a double anniversary. It is the company's 90th founding anniversary, and also the 35th anniversary of the launch of Netto Marken-Discount concept. As a part of the celebration, Netto will organise anniversary activities for its customers in September 2018. The company was launched in 1928 in the Bavarian city of Regensburg. It now has 4,200 branches and around 75,150 employees across Germany. With 21 million weekly customers, it is one of the top three discounters in the food retail sector in the country.Source: esmmagazine.com
Kenya: Nakumatt exits Coast region as last outlet closes
Struggling Nakumatt Holdings, once the region's largest regional retailer, has exited Mombasa following closure of its Likoni branch, which was its last remaining store in the tourist hub city. Nakumatt was forced out of the Likoni space in early August following a court order issued in June that gave the retailer 60 days to vacate the premises. The supermarket chain was kicked out for failing to pay rent to its landlord Nova Holdings Ltd. Sources told the Business Daily that Nakumatt owes Nova about Sh107mln rent accrued for over 21 months.Source: nation.co.ke
Australian retail sales stall
Australia’s retail sales stalled in July, defying expectations for another modest monthly increase. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), retail turnover was unchanged after seasonal adjustments, undershooting market expectations for an increase of 0.3%. The surprise result followed a strong period for sales over the prior three months, including a 0.4% gain in June. Source: businessinsider.com.au
Philippines: Robinsons Retail increases stake in Ministop to 59.1%
Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. of the Gokongwei Group is boosting its stake in Ministop Philippines to 59.1% from 51% as Japanese trading firm Mitsubishi Corp. divests from the business. Robinsons Retail said in a disclosure to the stock exchange Monday wholly-owned unit Robinsons Inc. signed an agreement to buy the shares of Mitsubishi in Robinsons Convenience Stores Inc. RCSI is the exclusive master franchisee of Ministop in the Philippines.Source: manilastandard.net
South Africa: 7 Shoprite buildings going under the hammer
Shoprite Holdings has just completed a review of its property portfolio and as part of its restructure, on 12 September it will be auctioning seven non-core retail centres all with anchor tenant leases to be concluded at the time of transfer following their sale by High Street Auctions (HSA). Anchor tenants in these centres are Shoprite stores, Shoprite Liquor Stores or U-Save stores.Source: iol.co.za
UK: Marks & Spencer celebrates 100 years in Scotland
Marks & Spencer is kicking off a celebration of 100 years of serving Scottish consumers with a special four-month centenary tour of five Scottish cities. The High Street brand began trading in Scotland as a tiny penny bazaar at 40 Murraygate in Dundee during the First World War and has since grown to serve 2mln customers in Scotland every week, employing 6,500 people. The ‘Centenary Taste Trail’ will profile M&S’s partnerships with over Scottish suppliers and 4,000 Scottish farms while exhibiting archive photography of local communities, commissioned by the M&S Archive.Source: insider.co.uk
Italy: Auchan trials ‘Take My Things’ app in Bergamo
Auchan said it had signed up to the ‘Take My Things’ app, adding a trial of the service from its Bergamo hypermarket. Auchan is enabling shoppers within three kilometres of its Bergamo hypermarket to receive orders, offering one-hour delivery times. The app links shoppers with other people who are willing and able to make deliveries for a fee. People who offer to make the deliveries must register through the app. If successful Auchan said it will roll the service out to further key cities in northern Italy.Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
Croatia's Agrokor gets back to business after credit deal
A deal with creditors has finally given Agrokor boss Fabris Perusko time to focus on leading the Croatian food group back from the brink of bankruptcy and fighting off international competition. Under the deal, Agrokor’s biggest single creditor, Russia’s Sberbank will become the largest shareholder with a 39.2% stake. Bondholders will own 25%, local Croatian banks 15.3% and Russia’s second largest bank VTB will end up with a 7.5% stake.Source: reuters.com
India: Samara Capital, Amazon to acquire Birla's retail chain 'More', Goldman Sachs out
Samara Capital and Amazon are all set to acquire Aditya Birla Group’s food and grocery retail chain More, two executives said, even as investment bank Goldman Sachs has exited the consortium. Samara Capital-Amazon consortium will acquire Kumar Mangalam Birla’s Aditya Birla Retail Ltd at an enterprise value of Rs 4,100 - 4,200 crore. The deal is likely to be completed in the next 10 days, possibly as early as this week, the executives said on condition of anonymity. Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com