US: H-E-B to pay $500 ‘thank you’ bonus to all employees
Texas grocer H-E-B plans to pay its 120,000-plus employees a $500 bonus as a “thank you” for their extra efforts during the coronavirus crisis. The San Antonio-based supermarket chain said all full-time and part-time hourly and salaried staff employed before October 23 will receive the award via direct deposit. Those eligible for the payment include workers in stores, manufacturing, warehousing, transportation and administration, as well as employees of H-E-B’s Central Market, Mi Tienda and Joe V’s locations and the company’s Favor on-demand delivery subsidiary.
Source: supermarketnews.com
US: Buffalo Market launches nation's first hyper local mission-driven digital grocer in San Francisco
Buffalo Market is a digital grocer reinventing the supermarket model with local delivery but focusing on scaling local suppliers and farms. While others compete on delivery speed, Buffalo Market is focused on the ultimate needs of consumers, quality products, and predictability. "Buffalo Market's mission is to fundamentally transform the American grocery by focusing on freshness", says Buffalo Market CEO Adam Olejniczak. "Improving existing grocery store models by focusing on farm freshness may sound like it increases costs, but it actually does the opposite". Buffalo Market receives produce around 2am each morning, delivering it to customers later that same morning. This results in extremely fresh produce, lower costs, and better value for all involved.
Source: prnewswire.com
Amazon Fresh opens second store in California
Amazon Fresh opened its second store in Irvine, California, just a few weeks after the new grocery format debuted in Woodland Hills, California, according to a company spokesperson.
Source: grocerydive.com
U.S: 7-Eleven expands on-demand delivery
7-Eleven Inc. is expanding on-demand delivery to more than 90% of its stores in the U.S. Customers can get products delivered directly from 7-Eleven via nine different platforms: 7-Eleven’s 7NOW delivery app; Postmates; DoorDash; Google; Favor (Texas-only); Amazon; Uber Eats; GrubHub; Instacart.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
US: Wakefern Food Corp. announces $18.3bln in sales
Wakefern Food Corp. Chairman and CEO Joseph S. Colalillo, President and COO Joe Sheridan, and Executive Vice President Chris Lane addressed Wakefern shareholders, store management and staff during the company's virtual annual shareholder meeting. The company reported retail sales of $18.3bln for the 53-week fiscal year ending October 3, 2020, a 9.75% increase from the prior year. The largest retailer-owned cooperative in the United States, Wakefern opened four new ShopRite® stores, welcomed a new banner, Manhattan-based Fairway Market, and added a new member, the Maniaci family, during the same period. Nicholas Supermarkets, founded by the Maniaci family in 1943, now operates four new Fresh Grocer® supermarkets in northern New Jersey.
Source: newsroom.wakefern.com
UK: Retail sales recovery continues but consumer confidence tumbles
Retail sales rose again in September, leading to the biggest quarterly leap on record as the sector defies the economic gloom and battles back from the coronavirus lockdown amid renewed restrictions. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows total retail sales volumes rose by 1.5% between August and September. This is the fifth consecutive month of growth, resulting in an increase of 5.5% when compared with February’s pre-pandemic level. Over the 3 months to September, retail sales volumes increased by a record 17.4% when compared with the previous quarter.
Source: kamcity.com
UAE: Grandiose Supermarket expands in Abu Dhabi with New Masdar City Store
The sustainable and contemporary supermarket chain Grandiose Supermarkets grows its presence in Abu Dhabi, opening its doors in one of the world's most sustainable urban communities, Masdar City. Grandiose is the perfect addition to Masdar city, synergizing with its values of a green, eco-friendly community. The store is one of the first supermarkets in the UAE that facilitates sustainable grocery shopping with a well-thought deliberate customer journey.
Source: zawya.com
Germany: Edeka to double its stake in Picnic
Supermarket chain Edeka intends to double its stake in the Dutch online supermarket Picnic. The German market leader currently owns 10% of Picnic International and 35% of Picnic Germany. According to the German trade journal Lebensmittel Zeitung, Edeka top executive Markus Mosa has been given the green light by his board of directors to significantly increase the retail group's interest in the online shopping service. Currently, the German supermarket chain holds a 10% stake in Picnic, which would be worth some 1bln euros. Edeka would now like to invest a further 100mln. Specifically, it would be an exchange of shares: Edeka wants to convert its shares in the German division Picnic GmbH into a stake in Picnic International.
Source: retaildetail.eu
Amazon wins relief in arbitration stalling Reliance-Future deal
Amazon.com Inc. secured relief in its dispute with Future Group after a Singapore court put a temporary hold on Future’s $3.4bln sale deal with billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd., according to people with knowledge of the matter. An arbitration court in Singapore restrained Future Retail and its founders from going ahead with the sale of assets, the people said, asking not to be identified as the proceedings were private. The ruling was on Amazon’s request for an interim order before the arbitration hearings it initiated against the deal start. Judges will now be appointed for the main tribunal hearings. “We welcome the award of the Emergency Arbitrator”, Amazon said in an emailed statement. “We remain committed to an expeditious conclusion of the arbitration process”.
Source: bnnbloomberg.ca
UK: Sainsbury’s CIO restocks retailer’s data abilities
Phil Jordan, Group CIO of J Sainsbury's, the UK's second largest supermarket operator and also the owner of Argos, formerly a catalogue based store, has been at the forefront of changing the retailer as it responds to new customer behaviours, which also helped deal with the pandemic. Jordan explains that during 2020 Sainsbury's has doubled the size of its online grocery business as customers chose delivery and click and collect options over the traditional shop visit, in response to Coronavirus spreading through the UK.
Source: diginomica.com
Pick n Pay: H1 results show growth in South Africa
Pick n Pay has released interim results for the 26 weeks ending 30 August 2020. Pick n Pay reported comparable turnover rose 2.6% to ZAR44.2bln (US$2.7bln) at a total company level, with like-for-like sales rising by 1.0%. Its performance in South Africa drove its results, with comparable turnover in its home market rising by 3.4% to ZAR42.7bln (US$2.6bln), with like-for-like sales rising by 1.7%. It estimated the impact from lockdown restrictions had affected up to 20% of its revenue ‘at different stages of the lockdown’ and led to lost sales worth ZAR2.8bln (US$171.9mln).
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
Spain: Ahorramás breaks profit record
Ahorramás reports it has increased its revenue by 4% to €1.543bln in 2019 compared to 2018. €37mln of the revenues were generated by its wholesale division, with its supermarkets generating €1.506bln. Meanwhile, Ahorramás reported its operating profit rose 6% to €119mln.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com