Kroger to launch first autonomous drone delivery in Centerville
The Kroger Co. and Drone Express last month announced a pilot program to offer grocery delivery via autonomous drones and began testing it near the Centerville Kroger Marketplace. Kroger will launch its first autonomous drone delivery from a Centerville store this week. The company’s Cincinnati-Dayton division is in partnership with Drone Express — a New Jersey-based business with a Monroe hub — to launch the technology Wednesday, Kroger said in a statement released by Centerville officials. The Kroger Co. and Drone Express last month announced a pilot program to offer grocery delivery via autonomous drones and began testing it near the Centerville Kroger Marketplace, 1095 S. Main St. The Drone Express Monroe site was picked to serve as a hub for the manufacturing, testing and piloting of autonomous drones for commercial package delivery, a representative of the company told this media outlet. Drone Express said last month it estimated a need to fill 50 to 100 full-time jobs as its 7,200 square-foot Monroe facility becomes fully operational.
Source: Journal-news
New Government Jobs Report Confirms Decline in Grocery Employment
According to the jobs report released June 4 by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the domestic economy added 559,000 jobs in May and the unemployment rate decreased to 5.8% from 6.1% the previous month. Wages also rose slightly during that timeframe. The latest numbers reflect labor shortages faced by many employers. The number of Americans currently working or seeking work dipped last month, following three months of growth, signaling at least a short-term continuation of employment gaps. To address the labor crunch, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce launched a program earlier this week. The “America Works” initiative is aimed at helping businesses fill jobs by removing barriers to work, expanding job training programs and helping employers find talent.
Source: Progressive Grocer
Walmart will close all its US stores on Thanksgiving Day
Walmart announced Friday that it will close all its U.S. stores on Thanksgiving Day in what they call a "thank you" to employees for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic. "Closing our stores on Thanksgiving Day is one way we’re saying 'thank you' to our teams for their dedication and hard work this year," said Dacona Smith, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Walmart U.S., in a statement. "We hope everyone will take the opportunity to be with their loved ones during what’s always a special time.” Stores will operate under normal hours the day before Thanksgiving. Details on store hours for Black Friday, Nov. 26, will be revealed at a later date, Walmart said in a statement. In February, Target announced it will close its doors on Thanksgiving Day. It's the second straight year both retailers closed on the holiday, a trend started in 2020 in part to cut back on crowds amid the pandemic.
Source: USA Today
Amazon rebrands Amazon Go Grocery to Amazon Fresh and closes stores in Seattle near Microsoft headquarters
Amazon will rename Amazon Go Grocery to “Amazon Fresh” and close the Amazon Go Grocery store in Redmond, Washington, near Microsoft headquarters. Another Amazon Go grocery store in Seattle’s Capitol Hill district will continue to operate and will be referred to as “Amazon Fresh.” Amazon has been a bit confused about tracking various new grocery option; Amazon go, Amazon Go Grocery Store, Amazon fresh grocery store, Amazon fresh delivery, Whole Foods Delivery, Prime Now Delivery, etc. This simplifies the array of products offered a bit. Amazon Go Grocery Store Released in February 2020 As an expanded version of the company’s cashierless Amazon Go convenience store. Meanwhile, Amazon has a full-size Amazon Fresh grocery store. The company will move its employees from the Redmond Amazon Go Grocery location to the new Amazon Fresh store next month. The Amazon Go Grocery concept (larger than Amazon Go, with cashier-free technology) will continue to exist. The rebranded Capitol Hill location is described as a smaller format for Amazon Fresh. The larger format Amazon Fresh store lacks cashier-less technology and continues to offer traditional cashier lines.
Source: Illinois News Today
Qatar: Lulu Hypermarket marks World Environment Day
LuLu Hypermarket Qatar has joined hands with the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) to participate in its 'One Million Trees Initiative' on the sidelines of World Environment Day. The inaugural ceremony of the initiative will be held at 9am Sunday on the LuLu Hypermarket premises on D-Ring Road. Senior officials from the MME's Public Parks Department, namely Mohamed al-Sada, assistant director; Khalid Asindi, head of the Project Section; and Mayson, engineer; Naser Aldarweish and Abdelmahdi Salman from the Gardens Section of Doha Municipality and the senior management of LuLu Group will attend the event. To promote the MME's initiative and communicate the message about the importance of protecting the nature, LuLu Hypermarket will plant trees in the garden aisles of its parking grounds and also distribute plants among shoppers during the day, the leading retailer has said in a statement.
Source: Gulf Times
UK: Asda and Morrisons shop staff warned not to raise hopes for equal pay
Shop workers at Asda and Morrisons should not raise their hopes that they are due a hefty pay cheque following the news that thousands of Tesco workers could be due compensation after a new ruling on equal pay. On Thursday, The European Union Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that EU rules guaranteeing equal pay for male and female workers can be invoked in a dispute over pay for thousands of Tesco workers, in a blow for the supermarket giant. The bloc’s top court indicated that pay conditions for shop floor workers can be compared with the company’s distribution staff. However, Thrive Law's managing partner, Jodie Hill, warned that Asda and Morrisons workers should not get their hopes up over compensation and said a decision may take years as the various battles proceed through the courts.
Source: Yorkshire post
Europe: Euro zone retail sales fall more than expected in April
Euro zone retail sales fell more than expected in April, dragged down by a decline in sales of non-food products, but were still much higher than 12 months earlier when most countries were under strict pandemic lockdowns, data showed on Friday. The European Union's statistics office Eurostat said retail sales in the 19 countries sharing the euro fell 3.1% month-on-month in April but were 23.9% higher than a year earlier. Economists polled by Reuters had expected only a 1.2% monthly fall and forecast a 25.5% year-on-year surge.
Source: Reuters