Canadian retail titan W. Galen Weston dies at 80
W. Galen Weston, patriarch of one of Canada’s wealthiest families and retail titan, has died at age 80, according to a statement by the family. Weston was the third generation of his family to lead George Weston Limited, an already-prosperous retail empire founded by his grandfather, which he expanded significantly. The family company, now run by his son, Galen Weston, owns Primark and Selfridges in the United Kingdom, as well as the Canadian grocery chain Loblaw Co Ltd, pharmacy chain Shoppers Drug Mart, and real estate company Choice Properties.
Source: reuters.com
US: SpartanNash issues code of conduct for vendors
Grocery wholesaler and retailer SpartanNash is implementing a “Vendor Code of Conduct” that delineates its expectations for compliance and commitment by its supplier and other trading partners. Grand Rapids, Michigan-based SpartanNash said the Vendor Code of Conduct will be distributed in the coming weeks to its more than 13,000 vendors, suppliers and contractors for acknowledgement and compliance. All SpartanNash vendors are expected to act in accordance with the code, which sets guidelines for how trading partners conduct their businesses, and sign an acknowledgement stating their intentions to comply, the company said.
Source: supermarketnews.com
US: Wegmans, Target are named top workplaces
Wegmans Food Markets, Target, Publix Supermarkets and other food retailers have been named to Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For. Wegmans was ranked No. 4 on the list, Target is No. 14. and Publix is No. 42. Wegmans has been on the list every year since the list's founding. Publix is also one of only five to have made the list every year since its inception in 1998. This list debuted in 2019 and features only companies with more than 100,000 employees.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: Farmstead partners with DoorDash to offer grocery delivery service
Online grocer Farmstead has partnered with DoorDash to provide one-hour delivery in all markets where the online grocery retailer currently operates or intends to provide service, according to a press release. As part of the arrangement, Farmstead will also allow any retailer using its Grocery OS online order-management technology to make deliveries through Drive, DoorDash's white-label fulfillment platform. Farmstead's tie-up with DoorDash comes as the California-based e-grocer moves forward with an expansion effort intended to bring it to at least 15 new cities in 2021.
Source: grocerydive.com
UK: Tesco reports £2bln profit after 'exceptionally strong' sales
Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer, beat its guidance by reporting total adjusted retail operating profit of £1.99bln (€2.29bln) after seeing "exceptionally strong" sales during the COVID-19 pandemic. The retailer reported a 6.3% rise in group like-for-like sales, including a 7.7% lift in its core British market. UK online surged 77% to £6.3bln as it doubled capacity to 1.5mln slots a week. Operating profit, however, fell 14.7% as the company incurred costs in adapting to the pandemic.
Source: esmmagazine.com
UK: Sainsbury’s expands rapid delivery tie-ups
Sainsbury’s has expanded its rapid grocery delivery trials with Deliveroo and Uber Eats to hundreds of stores. Under a new two-year contract with Deliveroo, around 100 stores across the UK will now offer the service. It means 30% of people in Deliveroo zones can access more than 1,000 products from Sainsbury’s and have them delivered in as little as 20 minutes. Sainsbury’s partnership with Uber Eats is being extended from 20 stores to cover a similar number as Deliveroo in major cities.
Source: kamcity.com
Union leader slams planned reorganisation at Dutch retailer Jumbo
A leading trade union representative has described the planned store reorganisation strategy at Dutch retailer Jumbo as "ridiculous", according to reports, suggesting that job or wage cuts are likely to be part of its plans. FNV director Mari Martens was commenting after Jumbo announced details of its planned new operating model, with which it said it is 'responding to current and future customer needs'. The retailer has pledged that 'no jobs will disappear' as part of the restructuring, however it said that a number of roles will change, while other positions will be discontinued, with existing staff on a permanent contract given priority when applying for a new position.
Source: esmmagazine.com
GS Supermarket to expand stores in Indonesia
GS Supermarket, the hypermarket chain of GS Retail Co., a major South Korean retailer, said that it has secured a 3.2bln won (US$2.84mln) investment from Indonesian investment firm PT NIS to increase its number of stores in the Southeast Asian nation to 20 by 2025.
Source: en.yna.co.kr
Bringing more plant-based choices to 5mln customers across the UK with the launch of all LIVEKINDLY Collective brands at Iceland
Iceland doubles its meat free offering in almost 1,000 stores, in response to customer demand and further momentum in the plant based category. Fry’s, Oumph! and LikeMeat join No Meat and are available at Iceland and The Food Warehouse Stores. LIVEKINDLY Collective, a collection of heritage and start-up brands on track to become one of the world’s largest plant-based food companies, confirms that their portfolio of plant-based products from the brands of Fry's, Oumph! and LikeMeat are available at almost 1,000 Iceland and The Food Warehouse Stores across the UK as of this week.
Source: mynewsdesk.com
France: Groupe Casino exploring fundraising plans for Cdiscount, GreenYellow
French retailer Casino has said that it is exploring fundraising plans for its Cdiscount and GreenYellow subsidiaries. The company said it had launched preparatory works on potential capital hikes for the units to step up their growth plans.
Source: esmmagazine.com