US: Walmart Board of Directors adds former AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson
Walmart Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Randall Stephenson, former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AT&T Inc., as a new member of the company’s board, Stephenson became the 12th member of the board. “Randall’s experience as a global business leader and, in particular, his leadership skills and insights in finance, technology, retail and brand management will be a tremendous benefit as we shape the next generation of retail”, said Walmart Chairman of the Board Greg Penner. “We look forward to working with him as we drive Walmart’s strategy forward and continue providing effective governance for all our stakeholders”.
Source: businesswire.com
US: Women in food on fire at The Fresh Market
In honor of Women’s History Month, women-owned and -operated food companies will be celebrated throughout the month of March at Greensboro, North Carolina-based The Fresh Market. The more than 100 products from women-owned companies will be highlighted throughout the store with signage, as well as in social media.
Source: winsightgrocerybusiness.com
NotCo solidifies U.S. presence with AI patent
With the help of key venture capital names like Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Latin America’s NotCo has been granted a U.S. patent for its proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) technology, known as Giuseppe. The technology breaks down foods into their basic molecular compositions, and then, employing machine-based learning, chooses vegetables that it can combine to imitate that structure, while also working with humans to learn what tastes good.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: Target breaks ground in Yonkers, New York
The city of Yonkers is about to get its first-ever Target store: The retailer held a groundbreaking ceremony for a 130,000-square-foot location within Cross County Center, one of the nation’s first open-air shopping centers. Target recently signed a 40-year retail lease with Cross County Center - the largest retail lease transaction in the United States during the pandemic - to occupy space at what was once the site of a four-story Sears store that closed in summer 2019. The new Target is scheduled to open in 2022.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
Makro adapts to evolving consumer needs in Colombia
In 2020, wholesale retailer Makro (owned by Dutch private trading group SHV Holdings), celebrated its 25th year of operating in Colombia. While Makro has recently scaled back its operations in other Latin American markets, Colombia remains a market of strategic importance for the business. Over the last year it has made some significant changes to its store model to better align to customers’ needs.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
Serbian competition authorities clear Mercator’s transfer to Fortenova Group
Fortenova Group has announced that the Serbian commission for protection of competition has approved the intention of the group to acquire control over the company Poslovni sistem Mercator d.d., Ljubljana. The company has fulfilled regulatory prerequisites to obtain approval from the competent national regulatory authorities for the protection of market competition in all required territories, including Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Northern Macedonia. Fortenova Group has also obtained approval from the European Commission.
Source: esmmagazine.com
UK: Deliveroo reduces losses
Over the past year, Deliveroo has, once again, grown strongly, although it still made a considerable loss. In the meantime, the British meal delivery company is working on the previously announced IPO. Deliveroo saw the transaction value increase by 64% to 4.1bln pounds (4.8bln euros) last year. More than 6mln people ordered at least once through the platform, which now works with 115,000 restaurants and 100,000 delivery drivers in 12 countries. "Even after governments re-allowed restaurant visits post-lockdown, customers remained active and maintained a strong order frequency", the meal delivery company reports in a press release. The strong growth could not prevent the company from recording a loss of 223.7mln pounds (260.6mln euros). The deficit is considerably lower than a year ago when Deliveroo was still negative by 317.3mln pounds (369.7mln euros).
Source: retaildetail.eu
South Africa: Massmart to offload Cambridge, Rhino and Fruitspot
South Africa’s Massmart plans to sell its food retail outlets Cambridge Food, Rhino and fruit and vegetable distributor Fruitspot to focus on high returning businesses. Massmart, which reported a narrower full-year headline loss, is majority owned by Walmart Inc and last year announced a turnaround plan to return to profit.
Source: reuters.com
Israeli retailer Shufersal raises $211mln in share offering
Shufersal, Israel’s largest supermarket chain, said it raised 702mln shekels ($211mln) in a share offering that included foreign investors for the first time. Shufersal said demand in the offering, which took place late last week, reached 1.5bln shekels, with all Israeli institutions participating.
Source: reuters.com
Portugal: Auchan joins Euromadi Portugal buying alliance
Auchan Portugal has joined Euromadi Portugal, the local buying alliance that is a member of Europe-wide EMD group. Euromadi Portugal has 28 associated companies who operate 43 cash & carry sites and more than 2,000 stores. Having Auchan join it will boost Euromadi’s standing in Portugal, while for Auchan it noted the similarities between its aims and Euromadi’s, which both centre on supporting economic, social, and environmental terms in Portugal.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com