SPAR Group announces board changes
South Africa’s SPAR Group has announced the appointment of Sundeep Tribhovandas Naran as an independent non-executive director, effective 15 February 2022. The appointment is subject to shareholder approval at the 2022 AGM.
Source: esmmagazine.com
UK: Asda facing strike threat as Tesco battles to prevent Xmas walkout disruption
Asda has joined Tesco, its biggest rival, in facing the prospect of strike action ahead of the key Christmas trading season. The GMB union said it was launching a consultative ballot - due to close on 20 December - over the supermarket chain's decision not to give distribution staff a "meaningful" pay offer.
Source: news.sky.com
Coop Netherlands offers Onze Markt products
Coop Netherlands has rolled out potatoes from the sustainable food brand Onze Markt in more than 300 Coop supermarkets. The retailer says it is the first supermarket chain to put products from the sustainable food brand on store shelves.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Amazon cloud outage hits websites and streaming apps
Thousands of the world's web users were affected by a major outage which disrupted Amazon's cloud services on Tuesday. Netflix and Disney+ were among the streaming platforms affected, as well as a range of apps, and Amazon.com's e-commerce website. Amazon had said the problem was related to network devices and linked to application programming interface (API), which is used for building and integrating application software.
Source: news.sky.com
Holland: Pieter Pot raises 9mln euros in growth money
The package-free online supermarket Pieter Pot has raised 9mln euros in a new capital round. The start-up wants to use the funds to facilitate further international growth and expand its product range.
Source: retaildetail.eu
France: Lidl set to develop store made entirely of wood
Lidl France has started construction on a supermarket made entirely from wood, alongside CBI, a subsidiary of VINCI Construction. Located in Épinal, in the Vosges department, the 'Bois de France' store is set to open in spring of next year and has been developed in response to the French government's recently-introduced 'Climat et Résilience' legislation, which aims to achieve a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in France by 2030.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Marc Hofman: "Colruyt Group acts in the interests of the consumer"
The negotiations between Colruyt Group and its suppliers are rather tough but always respectful, stresses operations manager Marc Hofman. "We sometimes see inexplicable differences between producers."
Source: retaildetail.eu
South Africa: Strike ends at Walmart-owned Massmart after agreement reached
Thousands of striking workers at companies under Massmart Holdings in South Africa, which is owned by Walmart Inc, will return to work after reaching an agreement over disputes, a labour union said.
Source: reuters.com
Food delivery shares rise ahead of EU draft rules on gig workers
Shares in ride-sharing and food delivery companies rebounded, ahead of an European Commission proposal expected December 9 that will define when couriers should be considered employees and when they should be considered independent contractors. The Financial Times reported that the proposal, under development for years, will as expected put the burden of proof on companies, rather than workers, to show when their delivery people are self-employed. Shares in the Netherlands' Just Eat Takeaway.com rose 6.3%, Germany's Delivery Hero rose 4.5, and Britain's Deliveroo was up 1.9%. Uber shares closed at $38.49 in the United States.
Source: reuters.com
US: Walmart to open new high-tech fulfillment center in Wilson County
Walmart announced plans to open a 925,000 square-foot automated fulfillment center in Lebanon, Tennessee to support the retailer’s growing supply chain network and eCommerce business. The new facility, located at 1015 Hixson Boulevard, is set to open Fall of 2022 and will create up to 300 full-time jobs. Walmart’s high-tech fulfillment center will include the unique combination of associates, AI-software and automated robots that work together to ship orders to customers even faster. The new fulfillment center marks the retailer’s 1st in the state of Tennessee.
Source: businesswire.com
US: Coborn’s closes deal to acquire Tadych's Econofoods stores
Coborn’s, Inc. finalized its deal to acquire Tadych’s Econofoods locations in Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The Minnesota retailer is changing the name of the banners to Tadych’s Marketplace Foods. The 6 former Econofoods stores will be run by the employee-owned Coborn’s, which plans to retain the 800 or so current associates. Through the acquisition, Coborn’s has pushed into a new state, Michigan, and added to its store count.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: Travis Sheetz promoted to CEO of Sheetz convenience store chain
Travis Sheetz is being promoted to CEO from president and chief operating officer of the Sheetz chain of more than 630 convenience stores, effective January 2022, the company based in Altoona, Pennsylvania, said.
Source: supermarketnews.com
Ahold Delhaize USA adds more Instacart virtual c-stores
All Ahold Delhaize USA supermarket chains - Stop & Shop, Giant Food, Giant/Martin’s, Food Lion and Hannaford - now provide 30-minute delivery of convenience-oriented products via Instacart. San Francisco-based Instacart said that new virtual convenience storefronts including Giant Food Convenience, Food Lion Now and Hannaford Now join Shop & Stop Express, Giant Instant Delivery and Martin’s Instant Delivery in providing rapid delivery of convenience items and household essentials, with the service available from more than 1,400 stores on the East Coast.
Source: supermarketnews.com
US: Giant Food Launches Ship2Me Online Marketplace
Landover, Maryland-based Giant Food opened its Ship2Me marketplace, allowing shoppers to add tens of thousands of new products to their online shopping basket. Giant Food becomes the 1st brand under the Ahold Delhaize USA family to launch using Ship2Me.
Source: winsightgrocerybusiness.com
US: Jewel-Osco opens first fulfillment center for online grocery shopping
As online grocery shopping continues to grow, Jewel-Osco opened its 1st micro-fulfillment center in southwest suburban Westmont, taking a page out of the game-changing Amazon playbook. Located in a former Hobby Lobby next to a bricks-and-mortar Jewel store, the high-tech, 20,000-square-foot warehouse will be able to fill 1,000 online orders a day, expediting grocery deliveries to shoppers within 20 miles.
Source: chicagotribune.com
US: Walmart’s former e-commerce head is now CEO of food startup Wonder
Marc Lore, who is credited with transforming Walmart’s e-commerce operations, is going “all in” on his latest tech-driven venture, which features an on-demand food truck business called Wonder. In a blog post on LinkedIn, Lore, who served as president and CEO of Walmart U.S. e-Commerce from 2016 to January 2021, said he has decided to fully commit his time as CEO of Wonder Group. The company includes the Wonder food trucks and a “unique” delivery service for local restaurants called Envoy. The 2 businesses operate within Wonder Group.
Source: chainstoreage.com
Walmart Canada to eliminate single-use plastic bags
Walmart Canada has announced its plans to eliminate single-use plastic shopping bags by Earth Day 2022. The big-box retailer says the changes will apply to in-store purchases as well as online grocery pickup and delivery orders, and will be implemented at Walmart’s more than 400 locations across Canada by April 22.
Source: canadiangrocer.com