Italian supermarket chain Conad has opened 3 new stores, in the Abruzzo, Molise and Liguria regions. Conad Adriatico has rolled out a new store in Martinscuro, of which 600 square metres is dedicated to fresh produce. The store is equipped with energy-saving technologies, including a solar thermal plant for hot water production. The retailer has also inaugurated a Conad hypermarket in Montenero di Bisaccia, of which 900 square metres is dedicated to fresh products. The store uses LED technology that enables electricity savings of up to 70% compared to standard solutions. The retailer also has opened its seventh supermarket in Viareggio. The store has the usual sections, with special attention paid to the fresh department, organic and local products. (esmmagazine.com) Holland: Spar supermarket chain coming back to Greece
Dutch supermarket chain Spar is returning to Greece following a deal with the local retail group Asteras, after leaving the country in 2015, where it had a presence via the Veropoulos firm since 1969. The agreement with Asteras foresees the creation of Spar Hellas between the Greek and Dutch companies, with the local retailer’s network of 200 stores being transformed into Spar stores. All of the stores in the existing network will be overhauled to meet Spar’s standards, with work expected to begin by the end of the year and take two years to complete. (ekathimerini.com) Israeli supermarket chain Shufersal Q3 profit up
Shufersal, Israel’s largest supermarket chain, said net profit rose in the third quarter, boosted by its private label products and cost cutting measures. The company posted net profit of 65mln shekels ($18.5mln), up from 51mln shekels a year earlier. Revenue slipped 0.7% to 3.02bln shekels due to the timing of the Jewish new year and Yom Kippur holidays in September, which reduced the number of days stores were open. Same store sales in the quarter fell 1.9% due to the holidays. (Reuters)New Zealand Q3 retail sales advance 0.2%
The total volume of retail sales in New Zealand added a seasonally adjusted 0.2% on quarter in the third quarter of 2017, Statistics New Zealand said. That beat forecasts for an increase of 0.1% but was down from the 1.8% spike in the three months prior. Supermarket and grocery had the highest sales increase, up 1.6% (NZ$78mln). Prices for this industry were up 1.0%. (markets.businessinsider.com) AUS: Woolworths to open four new 'dark stores' to fight Amazon
Woolworths will open as many as four new so-called "dark stores" used to pack and ship online orders by the end of next year as Australia's largest supermarket prepares to defend itself from Amazon. Chairman Gordon Cairns told the company's annual general meeting on Thursday that Woolworths was getting the supermarket chain into a position where it could compete with the e-commerce giant.(smh.com.au)
France: Auchan/Alibaba deal turns up the heat on Carrefour in China
A partnership between French retailer Auchan and internet giant Alibaba risks pushing Carrefour further behind in China and could persuade its new boss to sell out of the country. Alexandre Bompard, who took the helm at Carrefour, the world’s second-largest retailer behind Wal-Mart, in July and on Jan. 23 will unveil his turnaround plan for the French company. Bompard has to decide whether to stay or go in China, where Carrefour has spent years trying to fix a business whose sales still fell 5.4% in the third quarter amid fierce competition from local players and a buoyant online market. Carrefour has been trying to reposition in China, where it makes 5% of group sales, having been too focused on large hypermarkets there. It has been expanding into e-commerce and convenience stores and opening logistics centers to cut costs. (Reuters)SPAR China Partners further expands with new store openings
In the last few months, SPAR China Partners have opened a number of new stores in different regions, varying from SPAR Neighbourhood and a SPAR lifestyle Supermarket to large SPAR Hypermarkets, showing the diversity of the SPAR format in this highly competitive market. Please, click here to read more at eprretailnews.comCA: Metro posts Q4 sales gains
Canadian supermarket operator Metro said that same-store sales turned positive in its fiscal fourth quarter amid slight basket inflation and despite an increasingly competitive environment. The Montreal-based retailer posted same-store sales gains of 0.4% in the quarter, which ended Sept. 30, amid a slight decline in traffic and inflation of 0.3%. The company said it is planning to expand its test of home delivery of groceries to Ontario by late fiscal 2018 or early fiscal 2019. Metro currently offers the service in Quebec, greater Montreal and Gatineau. It also offers click-and-collect service at seven locations. Sales in the fourth quarter of 2017 totaled $3.23 billion Canadian ($2.53 billion U.S.), up 10.2% compared with the fourth quarter of 2016. Excluding the extra week in 2017, fourth quarter sales were up 1.4%. (supermarketnews.com)