US: Walmart agrees to power more than 40 stores with solar energy
Walmart Inc. reached a deal to power more than 40 stores in five states with solar energy as it works toward a goal of getting half its electricity from renewables by 2025. The retail giant signed 46 power-purchase agreements and leases with C2 Energy Capital LLC, the New York-based solar company said in a statement. The projects supplying the power will produce more than 65 gigawatt hours annually, enough to furnish as much as 60% of each store’s electricity. The stores are in Arizona, New Jersey, Maryland, California and Louisiana, Walmart spokesman Micah Ragland said in an email.
Source: bloomberg.com
US: Buehler’s Fresh Foods upgrades online shopping
Buehler’s Fresh Foods has updated its online shopping experience, powered by Freshop, to address customers’ suggestions. Same-day curbside pickup is now available at four locations: Wooster Milltown, Medina River Styx, Canton and Wadsworth. Delivery is also available within a 15-mile radius from the Medina, Canton and Wadsworth stores. “Buehler’s has always been known for top-notch customer service and the finest-quality, best-tasting foods”, said Dan Shanahan, president and COO of Buehler’s. “Customers appreciate the ease of having an entire virtual grocery at their fingertips, and trust our personal shoppers to hand-select their order. We are excited to push our online shopping services to the next level.” Wooster, Ohio-based Buehler’s, an employee-owned company, owns and operates 13 Buehler’s Fresh Foods supermarkets in Wooster, Orrville, Wadsworth, Medina, Ashland, New Philadelphia, Dover, Jackson Township (Canton), Coshocton, Portage Lakes (Green) and Massillon, Ohio.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: H-E-B opens Hudson Oaks store, expands commitment to North Texas
H-E-B is further making itself synonymous with the great state of Texas by making the Northern region one H-E-B richer. The retailer announced that it will be opening a new store, H-E-B Hudson Oaks, as part of its commitment to the community of North Texas. “Our North Texas stores continue to flourish, and the Hudson Oaks store will allow us to answer the long standing call for a store in this community”, stated Leslie Sweet, H-E-B Director of Public Affairs, in a recent press release.
Source: delimarketnews.com
Mexico: FEMSA reports 5.6% revenue growth for Q1 2019
Mexico-based FEMSA, which operates the OXXO convenience store chain, has announced a 5.6% increase in consolidated revenue for Q1 2019. This includes the business’ proximity, health and fuel divisions. On an organic basis total revenue grew by 3.7%. Same-store sales for FEMSA’s 540 gas stations fell by 7.5% due to gasoline supply shortages at the start of the year. In the quarter, revenue for OXXO proximity stores saw an increase of 9.3% (3.2% in same-store sales). This was driven by increased sales, higher customer traffic and 234 new store openings, which were predominantly in Mexico. OXXO’s main operation is in Mexico, where it is the third largest retailer in revenue terms. Eduardo Padilla, FEMSA’s CEO, commented: “During the first quarter we were able to leverage the resilience and confidence of the consumer in Mexico to deliver a robust set of numbers at FEMSA Comercio’s Proximity Division, despite a difficult comparison base driven by the [Easter] calendar shift.”
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
Carrefour Brasil beats forecast in 1st quarter results
Brazilian supermarket chain Carrefour Brasil reported quarterly net income of 441mln reais ($111.75mln), slightly above market expectations. Analysts on average expected net income of 395.3mln reais, according to Refinitiv data. The results were up 58% from a year earlier, although profit growth was modestly affected by new accounting rules, the company said. As reported last month, gross sales at Carrefour Brasil, rose 9.9% in the first quarter to 14.2bln reais ($3.62bln), as food inflation more than compensated for a less favorable calendar.
Source: reuters.com
Slovenia: Mercator Group posts net profit of €1.6mln in FY 2018
Slovenia’s Mercator Group has posted a net profit of €1.6mln in its financial year 2018, after reporting a loss of €184.4mln a year earlier. Net sales revenue increased by 1.2% to €2.18bln, with FMCG sales - Mercator's main activity - up by 3.2%, to €1.63bln. Normalised EBITDA for the financial year grew by 18.6% to €107.5mln. Of the group's total revenue, 56.1% was generated in Slovenia, 32.6% in Serbia, 5.4% in Montenegro, 4.9% in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the remaining 1.0% in Croatia.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Polish Amazon workers demand their salaries be doubled
Amazon workers in Poland are demanding that their salaries be roughly doubled, the latest in a spate of labor disputes to hit the world’s largest online retailer. The demands follow strikes earlier this year in Spain and Germany, where workers demanded higher pay and better working conditions. “We earn three times less than workers in Germany and we work longer hours”, said Maria Malinowska from the Worker’s Initiative union. “Amazon can’t prey on the fact that it is in Poland, where wages in some regions are lower.”
Source: reuters.com
Metro Q2 driven by Eastern Europe and Asia
Germany-based Metro said like-for-like sales rose by 1.2% in its second quarter, with total sales rising by 0.2% in the same period, at constant exchange rates, to €6.75bln. The company said the results were driven by a positive performance in Eastern Europe, excluding Russia, and Asia. Metro noted the impact of ‘the shift of the Easter business to April and thus to Q3’. Metro said in Germany like-for-like sales contracted by 3.1% in Q2, while total sales fell by 4.1%, due to the shift of Easter into Q3. Excluding the effect of Easter being later in the year, Metro said like-for-like sales would have been ‘almost flat’, with a contraction of only 0.1%. It highlighted the positive effect it was seeing amongst HoReCa customers in a pilot region, where sales have risen by 5% since the beginning of the 2018/19 financial year. Metro reported that in Q2, by reporting segment, that: Western Europe (excluding Germany): total sales fell by 0.3%, while like-for-like sales decreased by 0.3%, affected by Easter’s shift. Russia: total sales fell by 2.3%, in local currency terms, while like-for-like sales decreased by 4.0%. It said the initiatives it had implemented, including investment in price, were taking effect, but more slowly than expected. Eastern Europe (excluding Russia): total sales increased by 6.8%, in local currency terms, while like-for-like sales also rose by 6.8%. Asia: total sales rose by 4.7%, in local currency terms, while like-for-like sales grew by 3.6%.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
China: JD.com announces first quarter 2019 results
China’s leading technology driven e-commerce company and retail infrastructure service provider JD.com, Inc. announced its unaudited financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2019. Net revenues for the first quarter of 2019 were RMB121.1bln (US$18.0bln), an increase of 20.9% from the first quarter of 2018. Net service revenues for the first quarter of 2019 were RMB12.4bln (US$1.9bln), an increase of 44.0% from the first quarter of 2018. Income from operations for the first quarter of 2019 was RMB1.2bln (US$0.2bln), compared to RMB4.4mln for the same period last year. Non-GAAP income from operations for the first quarter of 2019 was RMB2.0bln (US$0.3bln) with a non-GAAP operating margin of 1.6%, as compared to non-GAAP income from operations of RMB0.8bln in the first quarter of 2018 with a non-GAAP operating margin of 0.8%. Operating margin of JD Retail (formerly known as JD Mall) before unallocated items 3 for the first quarter of 2019 increased by 0.6 percentage point compared to the same period last year.
Source: globenewswire.com
Sweden: Salling Group sells Netto stores to Coop
Denmark based Salling Group has announced the sale of the 163 Netto stores it operates in Sweden to Coop Sverige. For the Danish retailer it’s a strategic decision to focus investments in other markets, while Coop will strengthen its position as the second largest retailer in Sweden. The agreement will need to be approved by the Swedish competition authorities, but it is unlikely that it will face many issues. The sale of the Swedish business enables Salling Group to step up its investments to roll out the Netto 3.0 concept in Denmark, Germany and Poland.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
UK: Ocado invests in robot chef start-up
Ocado has announced it has acquired a minority stake in robotics start-up Karakuri, that will enable the online retailer to use robotics for the preparation of ready-to-eat meals. Karakuri’s new machine can automate the assembly of ready-to-eat meals, using configurable, modular design that can be installed in-store or in dark kitchens. The machine can assemble up to 48 food items to create a range of food-to-go products. Ocado Group’s ventures arm led a £7mln seed round with an equity investment of £4.75mln for 18% of Karakuri and a seat on the company’s board.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
Australia: Woolworths strengthens Metro plans
Woolworths in Australia continues to enhance its neighbourhood Metro network through opening new stores and flexing the offer. Woolworths now trades 36 Metro stores, having started rolling out the format five years ago. The smaller neighbourhood format stores have been a success for the retailer, driving double digit growth in its last trading quarter. This week sees the seventh Metro to open this year in Rozelle, Sydney as Woolworths continues to open stores in new locations, as well as convert some existing stores to the format. Metro stores are typically around 1,000 sq m and carry 9,000 SKU's, compared to your standard Woolworths supermarket that is 3,000 sq m and stocks up to 30,000 SKU's.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
India: Flipkart opens online grocery store Supermart in Mumbai
Flipkart has announced the introduction of its online grocery store Supermart in Mumbai to cater to online buyers here and compete with online grocer BigBasket in this small but fast growing segment. Flipkart’s groceries portfolio currently spans staples, FMCG and dairy products, with a private label offering that also offers staples. Flipkart will deliver to 91 pin codes in Mumbai, which represents 75% of the city’s serviceable pin codes, covering Western and Central suburbs, and up to Navi Mumbai, top company officials said.
Source: thehindu.com
France: Casino and Leader to double the area of organic
“We are going to double the area of organic food, this has already been done in 400 points of sale, one-third of the total, and there will be another 1,000 organic products in these stores”, said Tina Schuler, General Manager of Casino and Leader Price, in the eco interview of Europe 1. “Everything is done to meet this demand. We help farmers to develop organic”, she said. Carrefour, one of Casino’s competitors, has set an ambitious target of 95% French fruit and vegetables by 2020. “We have not set goals in this way”, said Tina Schuler. The Casino Group also wants to launch spacings dedicated to brands in its stores, such as auto parts with Oscaro for example. “We had to reinvent ourselves in hypermarkets, we realized that more and more purchases would be made on the internet, especially non-food. We had to think about the buying experience to encourage customers to come in stores”, supported the General Manager of Casino and Leader Price.
Source: internationalsupermarketnews.com