South Africa: Massmart CEO resigns as retailer eyes Africa expansion
Massmart Chief Executive Guy Hayward will step down before the end of the year, the South African retailer said, ending five years at the helm of the supermarket group as it plans to expand further in Africa. The 52-year-old’s departure comes after the group reported a sharp fall in full-year earnings in February and unveiled plans to add 47 new stores between 2019 and 2021 with about a third of them outside its home market where growth has stagnated. “The process to appoint Guy’s successor is underway and the board will make further announcements in due course”, the retailer, which is majority-owned by Walmart INc, said in a statement. The exact timing of Hayward’s exit is still to be confirmed.
Source: reuters.com
Norway: NorgesGruppen cuts food waste by 21% in 2018
Norwegian retail group NorgesGruppen has announced that it has reduced its food waste by 21% in full-year 2018. The retailer has implemented a number of measures to cut its food waste, including a collaboration with Matsentralen (Food Centre), which distributes surplus food to the needy. In 2018, the food centre redistributed 2,100 tonnes of food, which corresponds to 4.2mln meals, of which 276 tonnes of surplus food came from NorgesGruppen. It also introduced a new system of data alert for products approaching their expiry date to help merchants in preventing food waste. In the future, it will include the expiry date of food items into barcodes, so that merchants can easily identify products that are close to expiry and take appropriate measures to prevent wastage. By 2020, NorgesGruppen's aims to cut its food waste by 25%.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Hofer Slovenia to eliminate disposable plastic products by end of 2019
The Slovenian unit of Hofer is set to eliminate disposable plastic items like straws, plates, glasses, and cotton buds with plastic stems by the end of 2019. All the discontinued products will be available in more environmentally friendly versions. Hofer recently joined the initiative of the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia to draft a code of conduct aimed at reducing the use of plastic carrier bags and plastic products. Participants of the initiative have agreed to remove plastic carry bags from store shelves in September 2019. As an alternative, they will offer certified paper bags and reusable bags. Hofer aims to implement the measure by June as a part of its "Danes za jutri" (Today for Tomorrow) initiative, which promotes environmentally friendly shopping.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Irish supermarket chain introduces Croatian products section
With a large Croatian community built up in Ireland over the last few years, one supermarket chain has taken the initiative to make them feel at home by introducing a Croatian section. Supermarket chain SuperValu, which has been around in Ireland for over 50 years, has created a new section with Croatian products at their Talbolt Street store in Dublin. The range was presented by their Croatian employee Mihael. “We are delighted to stock a new range of products introduced to you by our very proud Croatian Mihael. Find the products past our Off Licence and we have more to showcase next week”, SuperValu said. Croatians can now get their fix of products from home like ajvar, vegeta, cedevita, zvijezda mayonnaise, napolitanke, lino lado, soups, snacks and more.
Source: croatiaweek.com
Sweden: ICA sees sales up 3.4% in first quarter
Swedish retailer ICA Gruppen has posted a 3.4% increase in consolidated net sales in the first quarter of its financial year, to SEK 28.1bln (€2.62bln). Operating profit at the business rose to SEK 1.13bln, up from SEK 972mln a year ago. The operating profit for the period excludes items affecting comparability, including the calendar effect of Easter, which is valued at around SEK 35mln. 'At the same time, the result includes positive effects in roughly the same amount from divestments of store subsidiaries in ICA Sweden and the effect of the changed assessment of the useful life for properties and their components in ICA Real Estate', ICA said in a statement. Cash flow from operating activities amounted to SEK 1.67bln, while if ICA Bank is excluded, cash flow was SEK 1.6bln.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Carrefour raises job cut target to 3,000 in French hypermarkets
Carrefour plans to axe 3,000 jobs at its large hypermarket stores in France through a voluntary scheme, more than previously announced, a spokeswoman told Reuters. The French retailer, which is aiming to boost sales and profits, previously aimed to cut about 1,230 jobs. Under an offer made to unions, it could increase the number of potential voluntary departures by 1,770 through an additional early retirement scheme, the spokeswoman said, declining to comment on the costs and potential savings that the plan could generate.
Source: uk.reuters.com
Canada: Walmart invests $200mln to refresh stores
Walmart Canada says it will invest more than $200mln to refresh 31 stores over the next year. As part of the improvements, the big-box retailer is expanding its fresh food Supercentre format to more locations, which it says will “create a more seamless experience for customers ordering on Walmart.ca and picking up at their local store.” Other store improvements include dedicated parking spaces for online grocery pickup, hot food offerings, new signage and updated colour palettes. “Our store network is a key advantage in our ability to best serve the changing needs of our customers”, says Lee Tappenden, president and CEO of Walmart Canada, which serves more than 1.2mln customers each day, according to a press release.
Source: canadiangrocer.com
US: Brick-and-mortar still the first stop for moms
While online grocery shopping options continue to evolve and win over more shoppers, for now moms are still making brick-and-mortar retailers their No. 1 place to do buy groceries , according to a new Valassis research report. But the numbers may not be as high as those traditional supermarkets might like. When it comes to food purchases, 52% of moms do most or all of their shopping in-store, compared to 27% of dads. For household items, 50% of moms demonstrate this same behavior, versus 24% of dads.
Source: supermarketnews.com
US: Hy-Vee makes free grocery pickup, delivery a closer reach
Hy-Vee shoppers won’t have to spend quite as much to qualify for free grocery pickup and delivery, starting this month. Online shoppers spending more than $30 per order at the Iowa-based supermarket chain will qualify for free pickup, The (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) Gazette reported. The minimum order for free pickup has been $100, with orders below that charged a $2.95 fee.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: Natural Grocers’ Q2 aided by positive comps
“Driven by continued positive trends in comparable-store sales and consistent year-on-year gross margin performance”, in the words of Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage Inc. Co-President Kemper Isely, the specialty food retailer’s second quarter of fiscal 2019, ended March 31, saw a 6.7% net sales increase to $230.4mln; a 2.9% daily average comparable-store sales rise; 8.4% operating income growth to $6.1mln; and a 13.4% net income leap to $3.9mln, with diluted earnings per share of 17 cents. The company attributed the Q2 fiscal 2019 net sales increase of $14.5mln from the same period in fiscal 2018 to a $6.2mln rise in comps and a $9.1mln uptick in new store sales, partly offset by a $0.7mln decline in sales from one store that closed during Q1 fiscal 2019.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: Price cuts help boost Weis’ Q1 sales, comps
Lifted by the launch of its Low, Low Price program offering price reductions on 7,000 private-brand products, Weis Markets Inc.’s first-quarter sales for the 13-week period ended March 30 edged up 0.1% to $876.7mln versus the year-ago period, while Q1 comparable-store sales, adjusted for the Easter holiday shift to Q2, rose 1.4%. Additional reasons that Weis Markets gave for its higher Q1 2019 sales and comps were an increased number of winter weather events than in 2018 and the growth of its Weis 2 Go online ordering service featuring in-store pickup and home delivery. The grocer also noted that its comps have risen in 19 out of the past 20 quarters. However, the company’s first quarter net income dropped 11.7% to $14.3mln, from $16.2mln in 2018, while earnings per share came to 53 cents, compared with 60 cents in the year-ago period. As with the retailer’s Q4 and full-year fiscal 2018 net income and earnings per share, the lack of a deferred income tax benefit as a result of the December 2017 passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was behind the decline.
Source: progressivegrocer.com