France: Monoprix bans paper flyer
French supermarket chain Monoprix announces that from now on its paper flyers belong to the past. The retailer wants to reduce its ecological footprint and therefore focuses on digital communication. Every year, retail chains in France distribute more than 20bln paper catalogues, brochures and advertising leaflets, the company says in a press release. This year there will be at least 30mln fewer, as Monoprix is completely changing its communication strategy. The chain of city centre supermarkets wants to use more environmentally friendly means and thus saves 2400 tons of paper.
Source: retaildetail.eu
Metro Cash & Carry profitable in India after 15 years of ops 
German wholesaler Metro AG’s Indian arm Metro Cash & Carry has turned profitable 15 years after the company entered India. Metro AG’s CEO Olaf Koch, who is visiting India to review the company’s operations and meet government officials, said: “Five years down the line, the Indian arm should generate significantly more than one billion euros in turnover and should continue to grow in profitability.”
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
France: Carrefour will open 31 pedestrian drives in Paris by the end of January 2019
Carrefour continues its expansion with the opening of new pedestrian drives in the capital, as announced a year ago by Alexandre Bompard, the president of Carrefour, during its transformation plan Carrefour 2022. At the end of January, 31 pedestrian drives will complete the already existing offer. The brand aims to meet all the needs of its customers by offering them an optimal shopping experience. It is in this context that Carrefour launched in April 2018 its first pedestrian drive in Paris and the Lyon region. Carrefour will count at the end of the month 42 including 31 in Paris and 11 in the Lyon region.
Source: internationalsupermarketnews.com
Spar Thailand launches campaign to reduce plastic waste
Supermarket chain Spar Thailand has unveiled a nationwide campaign called ‘Let’s save nature together’ in an effort to reduce plastic waste. Through the campaign, the retailer is urging customers to use long-life shopping bags. The move follows a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed on 4 December last year by Spar Thailand owner and operator Bangchak Retail (BCR), with the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment & Ministry of Public Health. The deal is aimed at organising sustainability-related activities that could reduce the use of plastic bags in the country.
Source: retail-insight-network.com
France: Intermarché celebrates 50th anniversary
Intermarché has announced it will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2019. To mark the occasion, it is offering a range of prizes to be won every week. The competitions will run for 50 weeks and are outlined in 50 flyers that will be distributed during the period. Intermarché’s main competition ran from 31 December 2018 to 5 January 2019 and offered customers the chance to win €50,000. Any customer who purchased the retailer’s ‘Kings La Campanière’ celebratory cake during this time was given a game coupon. The coupon immediately informed them whether they had won or not.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
JD.com delays European entrance
As reported by Germany-based newspaper, Handelsblatt, JD.com will not open a new office in the country in the first half of 2019. It remains unclear as to whether the new European location will be opened at all. JD.com first announced plans to enter the European market in July 2018. Since then, however, the company has lost 40% of its stock market value. Decisions concerning the company’s direction are expected to be made in early February 2019. The company hoped to enter Europe to compete with Amazon, focusing on France, Germany and the UK. In June 2018, Google announced it would invest US$550mln in JD.com to help the companies collaborate globally, with a focus on Southeast Asia, Europe and the US.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
US: Caper rolls out AI-powered shopping carts that let customers skip checkout
Grocery store customers want speed and convenience, but grocery stores often have long checkout lines which hurt the shopping experience. As they seek to maintain competitiveness in a world where groceries can be ordered online, forward-thinking grocers are trying to make the store experience as convenient and frictionless as possible. There have been some innovations in physical retail, specifically in automating the checkout experience. However, many of these technologies require major store overhaul (e.g., install cameras and sensors throughout a store) and grocers saw such operational and infrastructural change as unreasonable risk to their regular business. Caper is the first AI-powered shopping cart that, using computer vision, lets grocery shoppers skip checkout lines. Shoppers can simply throw items into their Caper cart, and built-in sensors identify the items and tally a virtual basket. During the shopping journey, Caper helps shoppers discover in-store deals with its interactive screen. Once done, they can conveniently pay on the cart and leave the store.
Source: prnewswire.com
US: Big Y Foods to phase out plastic bags
New England grocer Big Y Foods Inc. plans to eliminate single-use plastic bags at checkout chainwide next year. Springfield, Massachusetts-based Big Y said it decided to completely phase out the plastic bags after evaluating the experience of six of its stores that were complying with community bans in place since 2014. Customers in those communities - Adams, Amherst, Great Barrington, Lee, Northampton and South Hadley, Massachusetts - expressed support for the ban as well as environmentally responsible business practices and the use of reusable bags instead of plastic and paper bags, according to the retailer. Plans call for Big Y to cease using the plastic bags by 2020 at its 83 stores in Massachusetts and Connecticut, which include 71 Big Y supermarkets; 10 Big Y Express convenience and fuel locations; one Fresh Acres Market specialty supermarket; and one Table & Vine wine, beer, spirits and specialty foods store.
Source: supermarketnews.com
US: 1st Giant Heirloom Market set to open in Philadelphia
Giant Heirloom Market, a new small-format retail food concept from Giant Food Stores, is slated to make its debut this month. Carlisle, Pennsylvania-based Giant said the 9,500-square-foot store is scheduled to open on January 25 in downtown Philadelphia. The Ahold Delhaize USA supermarket chain announced plans for Giant Heirloom Market in early October but hadn’t provided an opening timetable for the concept, geared for urban venues.
Source: supermarketnews.com
US: Albertsons raises $660mln in sale-leaseback
Albertsons Cos. has raised $660mln through the sale of five distribution centers. In connection with the sale, Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons said it has entered into agreements with the buyer to lease the properties back, which it announced in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. It did not identify the particular properties, or the buyer. CEO Jim Donald late last year said such sale-leaseback deals were likely as the company seeks additional financial flexibility to reduce its debts, which he said was a “priority” and likely a prerequisite for a potential public offering of the company’s stock. The company raised $290mln in a sale of two distribution centers in a similar deal last year. Donald last year said Albertsons had roughly $10.5bln in owned real estate holdings and $11bln in debt.
Source: winsightgrocerybusiness.com
US: Sprouts Farmers Market opening 4 stores January 16
Natural grocer Sprouts Farmers Market is opening four stores on January 16, with more than half of the locations planned for the first quarter of 2019. The stores opening Jan. 16 will be in Carlsbad and Fontana, California; Clearwater, Florida; and Carlsbad, Texas. A total of seven locations are anticipated to open in Q1. Each store will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 7 a.m. local time, and the first 200 shoppers will receive 20 percent off their initial total purchase. Muffin and coffee samples will be served to all, and every customer will receive a free reusable shopping bag with purchase. Each store also will hold a Taste of Sprouts event on Jan. 19, at which guest favorites and trending items, including a selection of exclusive Sprouts Brand products, will be sampled throughout the store. Moreover, unsold and edible groceries will be donated to local food banks and programs through Sprouts' Food Rescue program.
Source: progressivegrocer.com