Italian discounter MD reports 11% increase in turnover
Discounter MD has announced that it exceeded €3.4bln in turnover in 2022, with a sales increase of 11% compared to the previous year. The company, which is the third largest discount chain in Italy, with 800 stores, also reported a net profit of €72.4mln (+2.7%).
Source: esmmagazine.com
Ireland: ALDI unveils its newly renovated Athy “Project Fresh Enhanced” store
ALDI’s Athy Co. Kildare “Project Fresh” store has reopened its doors to customers following an extensive renovation project worth almost €1mln, which has seen the store interior completely refurbished. Athy is the first store to feature a trial of ALDI’s new Project Fresh Enhanced layout.
Source: retailnews.ie
UK: Demand for locally grown veg rises by 15% following supermarket shortages
Following the nationwide fruit and vegetable shortages that left supermarket shelves empty in February, demand for locally grown produce has risen by 15%, new research shows. Earlier this year, research from Ginsters found that 47% of Brits admit to having poor or patchy knowledge of how the veg they eat is grown, while a fifth have never seen a vegetable grow at all.
Source: grocerygazette.co.uk
UK: Supermarkets accused of keeping food prices high
Supermarkets have been accused of failing to curb rocketing food prices after the cost of groceries jumped a record high. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that while international food prices had begun to fall, supermarkets had not passed this on. “You would expect to see [global food price falls] reflected in supermarkets but we’re not there yet”, the ONS told the BBC.
Source: retailgazette.co.uk
UK: First Morrisons Daily opens with Amacor
Amacor has opened its first Morrisons Daily in Newton Le Willows, Merseyside, with further stores set to open in Bradford and Blackpool next month. The fresh food convenience stores will offer customers a tailored mix of Morrisons own brand products alongside branded favourites.
Source: talkingretail.com
UK: Sainsbury’s launches ‘Pocket Friendly Prices’ value campaign in convenience stores
Sainsbury’s has debuted a new price campaign within its convenience stores to promote ‘Pocket Friendly Prices’. The grocer introduced signage into its 800 c-stores earlier this week, according to The Grocer, showcasing the low prices of products including own-brand chicken breasts, butter and cherry tomatoes.
Source: retailgazette.co.uk
UK: The costly business of online grocery deliveries: can supermarkets ever make a profit?
Chair of CIM Food Drink and Agriculture Group, Mark Dodds says: “For many supermarkets, online delivery services are perceived as a ‘necessary evil’ - with some losing money on each delivery, due in large part to increased costs, inventory management, and price sensitivity of customers. One way that retailers have been looking to bridge this gap is by increasing charges for home delivery - though this is a difficult line to toe”. So how realistic is it for supermarkets to expect to make a profit from their online delivery services?
Source: grocerygazette.co.uk
US: WARP launches DirecTrack, a suite of tracking tools to provide shippers with Amazon-level traceability of shipments at the truck, pallet, and parcel level
WARP, a tech-powered freight network specializing in middle-mile solutions, announced DirecTrack, its new suite of tracking tools that enables shippers with the highest level of visibility of their freight at the truck, pallet, and parcel level including temperature monitoring.
Source: globenewswire.com
US: Whole Foods to cut hundreds of corporate positions
Hundreds of corporate-level positions will be eliminated at Whole Foods Market, according to an internal memo from the Amazon-owned grocer that was shared with Winsight Grocery Business. The grocer also plans to reduce the number of regions that oversee its more than 500 stores to six from nine. The cuts will not result in store closures or any layoffs of employees not working at the corporate level, the company said.
Source: winsightgrocerybusiness.com
US: How Hy-Vee leveraged the power of the food hall
“Seventy percent of our customers say they have no idea what they are going to make for dinner at four o’clock”, said Ryan Robertson, executive vice president for perishables. “So our concept of our food halls is really to provide very high quality products and a wide variety.”
Source: supermarketnews.com
US: Walmart releases 2023 Annual Report and Proxy Statement
Walmart Inc. issued its 2023 Annual Report and filed its Proxy Statement in preparation for the company’s Annual Shareholders’ Meeting on Wednesday, May 31, 2023. Shareholders will be able to attend the meeting online. There will be no physical location for the meeting. The 2023 Annual Report highlights Walmart’s financial strength and positioning as a people-led, tech-powered omnichannel retailer dedicated to helping people save money and live better.
Source: corporate.walmart.com
US: GetGo sells 4 stores for $19.5mln
GetGo Café + Market, the c-store arm of supermarket chain Giant Eagle, has sold four of its locations in Indianapolis, a spokesperson for the retailer said in an email. The stores were sold for a total of $19.5mln to Darshan Darar, an independent retailer who owns about 20 c-store and fueling locations in Indianapolis, Pat Rooney, the attorney who worked with the buyer, said in an interview. Darar acquired the GetGo locations under four separate corporations, Rooney said. GetGo has no plans to close any other GetGo locations in Indiana, where it now operates 58 stores - nine of which are in Indianapolis, the spokesperson said.
Source: cstoredive.com