In 2014, Lidl became the second largest retailer in Bulgaria, only behind Kaufland and pushing Billa to third place. Its revenue from sales grew by 26% compared to 2013 and reached almost 540 million Lev. This growth has continued during the first nine months of 2015, when Lidl recorded a 8.6% revenue growth compared to the same period last year without taking into account the newly opened stores during this period. "By the end of the year, we expect to reach a 10% increase in revenue," said Milena Dragiyska-Dencheva, manager of Lidl Bulgaria. Next year, the company plans to open three to five new stores. (capital.bg)Target to close 13 stores across US
US-based discount retailer Target is closing 13 stores across the US due to reduced profitability over the past few quarters. The company representatives said that the 13 stores will be closed on 30 January 2016, CNN Money reported. (hypermarketsandsupermarkets.retail-business-review.com)US: Sprouts stepping up investments on strong 3Q results
Sprouts Farmers Markets on Thursday reported third-quarter sales and earnings that exceeded company guidance and Wall Street estimates, indicating strong customer response to sharp pricing of fresh foods. It also raised its guidance for the fiscal year, saying it is now expecting comparable store sales growth of 5% to 5.5%. Sprouts said sales improved 18% to $903.1m, driven by strong performance of new stores and a comparable-store sales increase of 5.8%. Net earnings of $32m increased by 22.1% from the same period last year. Amin Merida, the company’s newly named CEO, said the company would accelerate investments in coming months in areas like product innovation. (supermarketnews.com) Dairy Farm trading update
Pan-Asian retailer Dairy Farm has revealed that softer sales growth, combined with rising costs and unfavourable exchange rates, has resulted in weaker margins than expected for the third quarter of 2015. Dairy Farm's food business has had mixed fortunes, with satisfactory results in north Asia, offset by difficult trading conditions in South East Asia:- Singapore - weaker performance of newly opened Cold Storage supermarkets, plus alcohol restrictions on 7-Eleven stores have impacted profitability
- Malaysia - weakened consumer confidence and the introduction of GST has led to weaker consumer spending
- Indonesia - good sales growth being offset by rising labour costs and increased investment in price
Canadian retailers experimenting with online grocery ordering
Two of the country's biggest grocery retailers, Walmart Canada and Loblaw, say experiments with a new online grocery-shopping and pickup service in Ontario have been so successful they're now looking at offering it in other parts of the country. "We're happy with the results we've had to date," said a spokeswoman for Loblaw Companies, which began testing the new "click and collect" 
concept last fall at three stores in the Greater Toronto Area. She said the response has been so positive, Loblaw is now offering the service in 22 Loblaw stores in Ontario and eight Real Canadian Superstore outlets in Edmonton. It's looking at introducing the service in other provinces, although she wouldn't reveal if Manitoba is one of them. (winnipegfreepress.com)Alibaba in talks to invest $80m shopping app
Alibaba is close to making another big investment in a U.S. e-commerce company. The Chinese e-commerce giant is in talks to invest around $80m in Boxed, a New York City-based shopping app that sells bulk-size groceries and household goods and ships them to customers, according to a source. The final number may come in a bit below or above that number, this person said, and there’s still an outside chance that the deal won’t happen. An Alibaba spokesman declined to comment. Boxed CEO Chieh Huang didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Bloomberg first reported the talks. (recode.net/Bloomberg)AU: Aldi wins over supermarket and mobile shoppers
Aldi has won the hearts of both grocery food shoppers and those looking for a mobile service provider. Australian Food News reported that the latest results from Roy Morgan Research's customer service satisfaction awards for September 2015 proclaimed Aldi as supermarket of the month. Also, the retail store bagged the mobile phone service provider of the month award. (foodworldnews.com)Kesko opens new concept test store
According to Jorma Rauhala, Senior Vice President for Kesko’s grocery trade, the concept has been developed considering ‘international and domestic retailing trends’, as well as insight on its customers who ‘particularly value a food store's location nearby and availability of local products, ease of shopping, and wide selections of fresh products'. (igd.com)Turkey: Carrefoursa Carrefour Q3 net result swings to loss of 32.7M lira
Carrefoursa Carrefour Sabanci Ticaret Merkezi AS reported on Wednesday Q3 revenue of 1.11bn lira ($387.77m) versus 830.7m lira a year ago. Q3 net loss of 32.7m lira versus profit of 5.4m lira a year ago. (Reuters)Asia’s giants the backbone for global grocery growth
China and India’s grocery markets are set to grow in double digits to US$2.4tr by 2020, according to the latest forecast by food and grocery researchers IGD. Please, click here to read more. Aldi’s ventures into WA and South Australia
Supermarket ALDI is all set to open its new Australind store one year from now – however it is vague if it will trade alcohol. The general store chain is building the store at Australind Shopping Center, as a part of a venture into Western Australia and South Australia, as it tries to fight for the market share. The local newspaper Bunbury Herald quoted a representative for ALDI saying the development of the new store was “advancing great” ahead of the inaugural in July. “ALDI has focused on creating up to 70 stores in Western Australia in the coming years,” she said. (internationalsupermarketnews.com)
US: Cardenas seeing sales gains from price-check systemCardenas Markets said Wednesday it is seeing gradual sales increases since implementing a technology that helps it understand product and pricing data at competing stores. (supermarketnews.com)
LuLu hosts discover America festival in Qatar
LuLu Hypermarket Group is hosting the Discover America food festival for the first time in Qatar. This festival was inaugurated yesterday at LuLu Hypermarket, Al Gharafa, by Ilona Shtrom, senior commercial officer at the US embassy, and Theresa Backus Dunn, executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce, in the presence of a number of dignitaries and senior executives from the retail industry. (gulf-times.com)KSH: Hungary’s retail sales up 5.1%
Hungary’s retail sales, in volume, saw a year on year rise of 5.1% in September according to both raw and calendar-adjusted data, the KSH reported. KSH data reveal that adjusted for calendar effects, the volume of sales rose by 3% in food, drinks and tobacco stores, by 6.9% in non-food retail trade. (bbj.hu)
Viewpoint: The supermarkets' guilty secret about unsold foodPlease, click here to read the article.