concept' storeLidl have opened their first ‘new concept’ shop that boasts wider aisles in a state-of-the-art energy efficient building. The facility, in Banbridge, Co Down, took the supermarket chain five months to build and was opened today. They say the new store, which measures nearly 30,000 square feet, represents a “multi-million pound investment into the locality by the retailer”. Lidl has 38 stores across Northern Ireland, bringing the number of employees to 730.
Kroger adds former Disney exec to board
Kroger Co. has added a new member to its board of directors. Anne Gates is the president of MGA Entertainment Inc., a privately held developer, manufacturer and marketer of toy and entertainment products for children. She was elected to the board on Thursday. Before her current role, Gates held roles of increasing responsibility with the Walt Disney Co. from 1992-2012, including executive vice president, managing director and CFO for Disney Consumer Products. Prior to joining Disney, Gates worked for PepsiCo and Bear Stearns.
Walmart to roll out digital payment systemWalmart Stores on Thursday announced it was launching its own payment system as part of its mobile application — a solution the company said would speed checkout in stores while further connecting the retailer to its shoppers. The application, available in select stores beginning this month with a nationwide rollout expected in the first half of next year, positions Walmart as the only U.S. retailer to offer a mobile payment solution that works with any device, and with any major ...
CA: Safeway hurts Sobeys Q2 results
Sobeys has reported a weak set of results for its fiscal second
quarter, hurt by difficulties in the integration of the Safeway Canada business. Parent group Empire Co saw its net profit drop by 41.4% to C$68.5m, although on an adjusted basis, they were down a more modest 12.6%. Sales, meanwhile, grew slightly by 1.1% to C$6.06bn, while like-for-like sales edged up 0.9%. Sobeys noted that it has been hurt by an economic slowdown in Western Canada, but also admitted that it underestimated the challenges of integrating Safeway. Lidl advances US expansion in North Carolina European supermarket titan Lidl picks two North Carolina grocery store sites. As it gears up to venture into the American market, Lidl is eyeing towards the Triad and Charlotte zones for its North Carolina stores. The organization has been unobtrusively plotting its extension plans for new store areas in both North Carolina and Virginia.
AU: Battle rages between supermarkets and suppliersWhen more than a third of your business is at risk if Australia's biggest supermarket chain takes you off the shelf you can understand why a supplier is reluctant to speak out against Woolworths. But for one supplier, who values his sales through Woolworths at more than $140 million, that's what was at stake when the supermarket chain hit it up for special payments last December.
He said each business was given a time frame to confirm payment and otherwise there would be "consequences". "That could look like promotions being cancelled, activity being cancelled or products being deleted so there was the big stick," he said.
Along with a number of other "tier B" small and medium-sized suppliers, this business was asked to cough up as much as 1.5 per cent of annual turnover in a single payment, as Woolworths scrambled to plug a $50 million hole in its earnings for the December half of 2014.
Source: www.smh.com.au