Amazon's new supermarket will be operated by robots -
Amazon's high-tech supermarkets of the future could be operated by just three humans, according to The New York Post. The ecommerce giant is reportedly considering two-storey supermarkets that span between 10,000 square feet and 40,000 square feet and rely heavily on a fleet of robots, sources told The New York Post. (businessinsider.com) Stop & Shop New York and New England divisions to merge
Ahold USA and Delhaize America unveiled plans to further strengthen their U.S. brands. This plan will be headlined by the merger of its Stop & Shop New York Metro and Stop & Shop New England Divisions into one brand organization. “Having a single brand organizational structure dedicated to Stop & Shop will strengthen the brand and will ensure it can better leverage its brand to serve the unique needs of customers in the different markets that Stop & Shop serves,” the company stated. (drugstorenews.com) Metro shareholders back plans to split off food business
Shareholders in Metro voted on Monday in favour of a plan to split the German retailer into two companies, one a wholesale and hypermarket food business, and the other Europe's biggest consumer electronics group. Metro, a sprawling conglomerate with 2,000 stores in 29 countries, has been restructuring in recent years to focus on cash-and-carry and consumer electronics, selling its Kaufhof department stores and Real supermarkets in eastern Europe. It said in a statement on Monday that 99.95% of the voting share capital represented voted in favour of the split. (Reuters)Coop Alleanza 3.0 expands to Italy's Calabria region
Italy’s largest cooperative Coop Alleanza 3.0 has expanded its presence to the Calabria region by signing a master franchising agreement with leading regional grocery retailer AZ group. Starting from February 22, the Coop Alleanza 3.0 banner will feature on all 34 hypermarkets and supermarkets of the AZ group, which have a total sales area of over 80,000 square metres. (esmmagazine.com) 
German-owned Aldi has overtaken the Co-operative to become Britain's fifth biggest supermarket group, industry data showed on Tuesday, highlighting the rapid growth of the discount chain. Aldi's sales rose 12.4% year-on-year in the 12 weeks to Jan. 29, taking its market share to 6.2%, ahead of the Co-op's 6.0%, market researcher Kantar Worldpanel said. The best performance came from Morrisons, where sales in the 12-week period were up 1.9% year-on-year and its market share rose to 10.9% from 10.8%. (Reuters)
The first supermarket to sell only salvaged food waste has opened in Germany. It marks a small step towards a zero-waste society - but a major shift in social awareness, says DW reporter Irene Banos Ruiz. The store in the German city of Cologne is the first of its kind in the country and the third one in the EU. It sells products of all kinds, from vegetables to beer. And the unusual thing is that all these products would otherwise have been destroyed as waste. (dw.com)Wal-Mart eyes more foothold in China, increases stake in JD.com
American retail giant Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. has further increased its stake in China’s second largest e-commerce firm JD.com Inc. to 12.1% as on December end, up from 10.8% in October 2016, according to a latest securities filing. The disclosure comes in around three months when Arkansas-based retailer disclosed that it had almost doubled its holding in JD.com and its holding in the Chinese firm had increased to 10.8% from 5.9%. (dealstreetasia.com)Alibaba opens Australia office
Alibaba Group opened the doors to its latest overseas headquarters in Melbourne on Saturday, marking another chapter in the e-commerce giant's worldwide expansion. The new office is aimed at supporting the 1,300 Australian and 400 New Zealand businesses selling on Tmall and Tmall Global, Alibaba's online retail platforms, as well as attracting new merchants, according to the company's statement. (cnbc.com) AU: FGC warns suppliers about continued supermarket price squeeze
Food producers and manufacturers are being warned that the supermarket price squeeze will continue for some time yet. It's prompted the Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) to warn that companies will be forced to move off shore in order to cut costs. It has been six years since the so-called 'supermarket price wars' began. (abc.net.au) Spanish Supermarkets 2016: Mercadona dominates, Lidl gains
Spanish supermarket chain Mercadona cemented its growth and continues to be the largest grocery chain in Spain with an accumulated sales volume of 22.9% of the market in 2016. Latest figures from market research firm Kantar Worldpanel shows that German discounter Lidl- the only other supermarket in the region to have attained growth during the previous year, advanced 0.5%, to gain 4.1% of the total market share for its third consecutive year, in a row now. Please, click here to read more at internationalsupermarketnews.com.
Booker’s bosses will embark on a tour of the UK this week, with plans to address the concerns of thousands of convenience store owners fearful of the implications of the shock Tesco merger. As part of a UK-wide tour, CEO Charles Wilson and managing director Steve Fox will attempt to convince thousands of convenience store owners under the Booker supply chain about the benefits of the £3.7bn merger. (retailgazette.co.uk)
This year, Inserra Supermarkets is expanding its partnerships with New Jersey farmers, bringing locally-sourced produce to all of its ShopRite stores. In New Jersey, the family-owned chain's 17 ShopRites are located in Bergen, Hudson and Passaic Counties, and in New York, the company has 5 stores in Rockland County. (Inserra Supermarkets)
Lulu Group is planning to add 20 more hypermarkets to its existing eight by 2020 in Saudi Arabia, the retail group said on Monday after launching a hypermarket in the city of Hail in the north-western province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. (gulfnews.com)
Spanish supermarket chain Mercadona cemented its growth and continues to be the largest grocery chain in Spain with an accumulated sales volume of 22.9% of the market in 2016. Latest figures from market research firm Kantar Worldpanel shows that German discounter Lidl- the only other supermarket in the region to have attained growth during the previous year, advanced 0.5%, to gain 4.1% of the total market share for its third consecutive year, in a row now. Please, click here to read more at internationalsupermarketnews.com. UK: Booker attempts to douse fears of Tesco merger monopoly
Booker’s bosses will embark on a tour of the UK this week, with plans to address the concerns of thousands of convenience store owners fearful of the implications of the shock Tesco merger. As part of a UK-wide tour, CEO Charles Wilson and managing director Steve Fox will attempt to convince thousands of convenience store owners under the Booker supply chain about the benefits of the £3.7bn merger. (retailgazette.co.uk) US: Inserra Supermarkets expands partnerships with local farmers
This year, Inserra Supermarkets is expanding its partnerships with New Jersey farmers, bringing locally-sourced produce to all of its ShopRite stores. In New Jersey, the family-owned chain's 17 ShopRites are located in Bergen, Hudson and Passaic Counties, and in New York, the company has 5 stores in Rockland County. (Inserra Supermarkets)Lulu plans 20 new hypermarkets in Saudi
Lulu Group is planning to add 20 more hypermarkets to its existing eight by 2020 in Saudi Arabia, the retail group said on Monday after launching a hypermarket in the city of Hail in the north-western province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. (gulfnews.com) 
