METRO Cash & Carry turns profitable in India after 15 years of operations
METRO was the first cash & carry player to foray into India in 2003. Since then it has opened 27 wholesale distribution centers across the country spanning 1.8mln sq. ft. of gross floor area and catering to over 3mln customers nationwide. “It has taken us some time to find the right success formula in India but with a focused approach, we have been able to break-even and turn profitable after 15 years of successful operations in India”, says Arvind Mediratta, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer at METRO Cash & Carry India, in an exclusive interaction with Progressive Grocer.
Source: indiaretailing.com
UK: Experience-led activation by Sainsbury's
To celebrate its 150th anniversary, Sainsbury's will launch a pop-up experience 'Since 1869: The Sainsbury's 150 Experience'. The retailer is hosting a sensory experience, which demonstrates how Sainsbury's has transformed and evolved over the 150 years in a fun and engaging way. Sainsbury's has recruited actors to take guests through a journey and bring the changes to life. The pop-up is set to take place on May 26th and 27th in Covent Garden. Entry is free, but pre-bookable tickets have already sold out.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
Honestbee CEO departs from company, reports suggest company failing
In the past four years, Honestbee has managed to extend its grocery and restaurant delivery operations to 10,000+ stores throughout Asia. After a $15 million Series A round of fundraising in 2015, Honestbee has gone on to raise an additional $46 million. But now, according to news source Tech Crunch, the startup has begun to flounder—and may capsize. Last week, Tech Crunch broke the news that Honestbee was hemorrhaging money—at a rate of $6.5 million a month, and this week the company has reportedly fired its CEO and CO-Founder Joel Sng. The company was forced to suspend its services in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, and the Philippines earlier this week and announced plans to layoff 10 percent of its staff.
Source: TechCrunch.com
Scottish government boosts food-to-go grant for 2019
The Scottish government has renewed its retailer food-to-go grant programme available to convenience stores in Scotland. The food-to-go grant is available to independent convenience store retailers in Scotland, and is administered by Scottish Grocers’ Federation (SGF). This year the total funding available has been increased to £300,000, an increase of £50,000 since 2018. The maximum individual grant a successful applicant can receive is now £7,500. The programme is aimed at independent convenience stores in Scotland to support innovation and responding to changing customer demands through developing an enhanced food-to-go offering.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
US: Walmart is testing ways to trim the size of its store management staff
Walmart is testing out a new employee structure within its stores in an attempt to cut down the size of its store management staff. The nation’s biggest employer is looking to see if it can have fewer midlevel store managers overseeing workers, with these managers seeing both their responsibilities and their pay increase. Walmart has been trying to trim its labor costs, but still needs to retain workers and attract talent in a tight labor market. The new structure is already in place at 75 of its stores, and will be expanding to departments across 50 other supercenter locations over the next month.
Source: cnbc.com
Canada: Loblaw to invest in future-ready workers
Technology will change the nature of work in the future at retailers like Loblaw Companies Ltd., so the company says it’s investing not only in things like self-serve checkouts, but also retraining its workforce. “Across the economy and our industry, artificial intelligence and automation will change the nature of the work that is done in our offices, in our distribution centres and in our stores”, said president Sarah Davis during the company’s annual meeting of shareholders in Toronto.
Source: canadiangrocer.com
US: Wegmans introduces shop-and-scan tool
Wegmans Food Markets has gone live with Wegmans SCAN, a mobile app aimed at helping customers check out faster. After a successful test with employees, the free app became available to shoppers this week at Wegmans’ supermarket on East Avenue in Rochester, New York. Using the digital tool on their smartphones, customers can scan groceries as they shop, put them in their cart and/or reusable bags and then quickly pay for the items at any self-checkout station.
Source: supermarketnews.com
Whole Foods Market opens headquarters in New Jersey
Whole Foods Market has chosen New Jersey as its new Northeast home. This week, Mack-Cali Realty Corporation announced that the specialty grocer signed a lease for its new 47,398-square-foot Northeast headquarters. “We have started 2019 on solid footing, securing Whole Foods Market in both our retail and office space at our signature Harborside center as part of our Waterfront Strategy,” said Michael J. DeMarco, Chief Executive Officer of Mack-Cali Realty Corporation, in a press release.
Source: Andnowuknow.com