US: Southeastern Grocers makes IPO filing public over two years after bankruptcy
Southeastern Grocers Inc, the Florida-based operator of supermarket chains Winn-Dixie and Bi-Lo, made its filing for an initial public offering public, more than two years after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Last month, the company had confidentially filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an IPO.
Source: reuters.com
US: Albertsons unveils contactless payment option at all stores
Albertsons Companies Inc. introduced Albertsons Pay, a new zero-touch checkout experience available through its updated just for U loyalty app. Albertsons Pay provides shoppers with a safe, secure, and contact-free way to pay, use discounts and earn rewards all at the same time. “Easy, fast and zero-touch checkout. That’s the bottom line with Albertsons Pay”, said Albertsons Cos. EVP and chief operations officer Susan Morris. “Albertsons Pay combines your just for U discounts, rewards and payments in one incredibly easy contactless transaction”.
Source: supermarketnews.com
US: ALDI will open first Arizona stores on November 5
Grocery shopping in Arizona is getting smarter, faster and easier. On Thursday, November 5, ALDI, the low-price leader, is opening its first Arizona stores in the Chandler and Goodyear areas. Entry into Arizona is part of a national expansion plan that puts ALDI on track to become the third-largest U.S. grocery retailer by store count by the end of 2022.
Source: azbigmedia.com
Amazon announces two new fulfillment centers in Kansas
Amazon.com, Inc. announced plans to open two new fulfillment centers in Kansas. The new centers, which are anticipated to launch in 2021, will together create over 1,000 new, full-time jobs with industry-leading pay and comprehensive benefits starting on day one.
Source: businesswire.com
US: Fresh Thyme uses shelf tags to enrich shopping experience
Fresh Thyme Market is getting smarter about its shelves. The food retailer said it aims to enrich the Natural Living shopper's experience by adding IX-ONE enabled ELI Codes to shelf tags. That will enable customers and employees to access rich product content, at-the-shelf, simply by scanning a QR code with their smartphones. Deployment of the technology is scheduled for the beginning of November.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: Albertsons maintains online sales surge in Q2Albertsons Cos.’ results for its second quarter of fiscal 2020 ended September 12 included digital sales growth of 243% as customers continue to use the grocer’s e-commerce at significantly higher rates during the pandemic. This growth comes on top of the 276% digital sales increase reported in Q1 of fiscal 2020. The grocer also posted Q2 identical-sales growth of 13.8%, diluted net income per share of 49 cents and adjusted net income per share of 60 cents, net income of $284.5mln, and adjusted EBITDA of $948.4mln, or 6% of sales, a 67% increase compared with the year-ago period.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
Brazil supermarket chain Grupo BIG files for IPO - Reuters
Brazilian supermarket chain Grupo BIG Brasil filed for an initial public offering, according to a securities filing. Grupo BIG is owned by private equity firm Advent International Corp, which in 2018 acquired 80% of Walmart Inc's operations in Brasil. Roughly a year later Advent dropped the Walmart brand and renamed the business Grupo BIG. Grupo BIG's preliminary prospectus said that the IPO will include primary and secondary offerings of shares. Walmart is among the sellers in the secondary offering.
Source: finance.yahoo.com
UK: Ocado acquires minority stake in robotics startup Myrmex
Ocado announced the acquisition of a minority stake in robotics startup Myrmex, and is due to take a seat on its board. Fremont, California-based Myrmex is a materials handling robotics start-up with a unique offering including autonomous mobile robots and intelligent asset handling systems. The startup’s set of solutions notably enables click-and-collect deliveries, allowing the industry to respond to the accelerated demand for smart deliveries created by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
South Africa's Pick n Pay ventures into difficult Nigerian market
South African supermarket chain Pick n Pay will soon open its first store in Nigeria through a partnership with A.G. Leventis (Nigeria) in an effort to tap the West African nation’s “underserved” consumer market. The push into Nigeria comes as retailers including grocery giant Shoprite Holdings and Mr Price are withdrawing because of currency devaluations, logistical challenges and difficulties repatriating profits.
Source: reuters.com
UK: Iceland trials new packaging that could save over 350 tonnes of plastic every year
Iceland is trialling a new, innovative packaging scheme for several items in its stores in a bid to drastically reduce plastic use. The supermarket, which boasts almost 1,000 branches across the UK, has announced it is trialling new forms of packaging on seven items, including bread, potatoes, apples, pears, strawberries, blueberries and mushrooms.
Source: independent.co.uk
Tesco and Lidl make gains in Northern Ireland
Latest figures from Kantar show the Northern Irish grocery market grew by 9.1% during the 52 weeks to 4 October. That figure accelerated over the latest 12 weeks, with sales up by 10% as shoppers again moved more of their eating and drinking back into the home in response to rising Covid-19 infection rates. Commenting on individual retailer performances, Emer Healy, retail analyst at Kantar, said: “Lidl once again took the crown as the top-performing retailer this period - increasing its sales by 12.5% over the 52 weeks and gaining 0.2 percentage points in share. Significantly larger trips, with volumes up 15.4%, contributed an additional £29.7mln to Lidl’s overall growth. Tesco, Northern Ireland’s largest retailer, increased its sales by 9.8% year-on-year and added 0.3 percentage points to its market share. Basket sizes expanded by 14.4% and contributed an additional £158.3m to Tesco’s sales”.
Source: kamcity.com
UK: New store format launched as Nisa celebrates adding 500 outlets in 2020
This month will see Nisa clock up 500 new stores in 2020. The convenience retail specialist said it “signals the great faith” it is held in by independent shopkeepers and wholesalers, in a year of grave uncertainty due to the coronavirus pandemic. And it comes as a new store format is launched as part of a strategy to accelerate forecourt recruitment further, as a solution for outlets under 1,000 sq ft, while a new support package offering expertise to entrepreneurial retailers is also added to the basket.
Source: business-live.co.uk
France: Miniso opens first store in Paris
Fast-growing Chinese discount chain Miniso is now also set to conquer the French market: the first branch in Paris has opened its doors. The retailer wants to open two more French branches this year. The new outlet in Paris is Miniso's first store opening in Europe since its successful IPO on the American stock exchange earlier this month. The store is located on Rue de la Chaussée-d'Antin, within walking distance of the luxury boutiques in the French capital.
Source: retaildetail.eu
Metro AG makes acquisition in Portugal
German wholesaling giant Metro AG has agreed on a deal to acquire the Aviludo Group, the second-largest foodservice distribution player in Portugal. Metro stated that the acquisition was a “decisive step” towards becoming fully focused on HoReCa and would strengthen its position in the growing foodservice distribution segment. In addition to the operational business, the transaction comprises the distribution platforms of Aviludo.
Source: kamcity.com