Canada: Walmart investing $175mln to improve stores
Walmart Canada says it will spend $175mln to help upgrade its stores across the country and improve the integration between its e-commerce business and physical locations. The company plans to renovate 23 stores by February 2019 in a move that it says will create more than 2,500 construction jobs. In addition to updating the physical appearance of the stores, Walmart plans to make changes to help its online shopping business such as dedicated parking spaces for online grocery pickup and new areas in stores devoted to online orders.
Source: canadiangrocer.com
US: Whole Foods now delivers to Prime Now subscribers in 53 cities
Whole Foods Market has expanded its delivery and click-and-collect footprint once again for members of Amazon's Prime Now service, bringing the numbers of cities serviced by both up to 53 and eight, respectively. Delivery is now available from Whole Foods through Prime Now in Annapolis, Maryland; Cleveland; Louisville, Kentucky; north and central New Jersey; and Pittsburgh, as well as additional locations in the San Francisco Bay Area. Prime members in those areas can purchase the same fresh produce, meat and seafood, everyday staples, and other locally sourced items that they can get in-store at Whole Foods.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: Natural Grocers redesigns website to help shoppers take control of their health
Natural Grocers is making its online experience more personalized and convenient with a fully redesigned website that's both desktop- and mobile-friendly. Offering a cleaner, more streamlined experience, the new site has an improved page speed and enhanced layouts, faster and more responsible page load times for different devices, and simplified navigation to help visitors easily locate stores, favorite recipes, articles or sales. It also employs a centralized content management system and allows for the integration of additional applications, providing a foundation for future growth and development.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: Kroger begins in-store roll-out of Home Chef kits, tests quick-prep extension
The Kroger Co. has begun rolling out Home Chef meal kits in select markets, and is debuting Home Chef Express, a line extension of quick-cook meal kits in a limited market test. Both options are intended to provide an easy-prep, on-demand solution for busy shoppers' dinner tables, with each meal serving two and starting at $8.50 per serving. The Home Chef kits will be available first at select Mariano's stores in Illinois and select Metro Market and Pick 'n Save stores in Wisconsin. The Home Chef Express kits will be tested at select Kroger stores in Kentucky and Michigan. Both lines will be available in Cincinnati Kroger stores, and then expand to new markets in 2019.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: Schnucks Markets announces opening dates and updates for nine acquired stores
Schnucks Markets announced it is opening the doors of nine of its recently acquired St. Louis-based Shop 'n Save locations this week. The retailer acquired 20 Shop ‘n Save locations earlier this year and has been switching out point-of-sale systems, rebranding signage, and restocking merchandise in order to rebanner the stores as Schnucks. “We know that customers want to quickly return to their neighborhood store to shop for their families, so our teams will be working around the clock to transition these stores in a period of just 63 hours each, and we’ll focus on more extensive upgrades in the coming months,” said Schnucks President and COO Dave Peacock.
Source: delimarketnews.com
foodora teams up with 7-Eleven for convenient Canadian delivery
foodora, one of Canada's top on-demand food delivery services, has joined forces with food and convenience store juggernaut 7-Eleven to bring a variety of items right to customers' doors. 48 select 7-Eleven locations across Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, and Edmonton are available for pick-up and delivery, using the foodora app and web platform. "If there's one thing we know for sure, it's that Canadians love the convenience of getting good food whenever and wherever they want it. We're excited to work with 7-Eleven, the king of convenience, to expand beyond good food, and offer our customers an easy way to get their everyday essentials, hot foods and snacks," said David Albert, Managing Director, foodora Canada. "foodora and 7-Eleven share one common goal, and that's making life easier for customers. We look forward to continuing to evolve and serving our customers' needs in new ways."
Source: newswire.ca
Jumbo to mainly open Foodmarkt-style stores in Belgium: reports
Dutch retailer Jumbo is going to focus on opening Foodmarkt-style outlets in Belgium, according to local trade publication Gondola. According to Jumbo CEO Frits Van Eerd, the retailer will be seeking to make a "good start" in the country through the opening of three to five outlets by the end of 2019. Jumbo already operates five Foodmarkt outlets in the Netherlands, following the recent opening of its latest outlet in Groningen.
Source: esmmagazine.com
France: Monoprix says grocery alliance with Amazon Prime tops expectations
Casino’s upmarket Monoprix supermarket chain said the start of its partnership with Amazon Prime’s delivery service for Paris had been better than expected - an alliance that could prove crucial for debt-ridden Casino’s fortunes. Monoprix Chief Executive Regis Schultz told Reuters that orders had been beating expectations, and that he hoped the delivery service could be extended elsewhere in France, although the decision was in the hands of e-commerce giant Amazon. Nearly a month after the launch, the number of orders was exceeding by 2-3 times the expectations of the two partners, he said. “A first assessment is very, very satisfactory. Our priority is now to expand the service,” said Schultz.
Source: reuters.com
Spar Hungary launches recipe book to promote healthy eating
Spar Hungary has announced the launch of a recipe book, titled ét & rend ('diet & order'), which focuses on simple, healthy-eating measures for customers. The book also includes advice from nutritionists and trainers. The easy-to-prepare, healthy recipes highlight Spar Hungary’s commitment to promoting a healthy lifestyle among its consumers. Head of communications at Spar Hungary, Márk Maczelka, said: "The handy new recipe book is a perfect addition to our lifestyle programme, which also puts focus on the promotion of sport and exercise in general.”
Source: esmmagazine.com
France: Bonte appointed president of Auchan Retail
Edgard Bonte has been appointed the new president of Auchan Retail, the Mulliez family has announced. The announcement follows the departure of Régis Degelcke, the group’s former president, who has taken up a position at representative group EuroCommerce. Auchan said that Bonte’s appointment is accompanied by a ‘future evolution in the organization and operation of the company’.
Source: esmmagazine.com
UK: Asda continues EAS refresh with Tyco Retail Solutions
Asda has rolled out Tyco Retail Solutions’ Google Cloud-based Sensormatic Shrink Management as a Service (SMaaS), which is delivering visibility into Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) and loss prevention systems for all its 642 stores in the UK. The implementation is part of a wider five-year strategy that the grocery giant is carrying out with Tyco Retail Solutions to refresh its EAS solutions and tagging eco-system, as well as drive meaningful alarm action at the store level. “Building upon our EAS foundation, we now have new insights and centralised management which provide efficiencies with our EAS equipment, allowing us to refocus our efforts and more proactively manage our estate in real-time across 642 stores. The true benefit will be realised when we can act predictively to support our stores with this new level of visibility SMaaS delivers,” says Andrew Rees, Senior Manager, Asset Protection, Asda.
Source: retailtechinnovationhub.com