Haggen Food & Pharmacy announced Friday evening that it has accepted a bid from Albertsons to acquire 29 of its "core" stores — including the Lake Oswego location on Boones Ferry Road and another in Tigard — and has now canceled an auction scheduled for portlandtribune.com. (seattletimes.com)148 New 7-Eleven Stores to Open in Western Canada
7-Eleven Canada, Inc. got its hands on approximately 148 convenience and fuel retail sites from Imperial Oil of Canada, and the locations will be remodeled and stocked to become new stores. "The acquisition of these prime locations will increase our presence in westernCanada and build on 7-Eleven's already strong brand recognition in the country," said Stan Reynolds, 7-Eleven executive vice president, chief administrative officer and chief financial officer. (kelownanow.com)UK: Tesco to launch 'wonky veg' range
Tesco is stepping up efforts to tackle food waste with the launch of a “wonky veg” range and a pledge to send all unwanted fresh produce to charity by end of next year. The Perfectly Imperfect will initially offer parsnips and potatoes before expanding to include a further 15 types of produce, including carrots and apples, over the next few months. The scheme is launching in about 200 stores from Friday. (theguardian.com)Tesco to donate all unsold products
International British grocery chain Tesco will do its part and has agreed to donate all of its unsold food to charities. Tesco hopes to reduce that figure to zero by the end of 2017. The company's initiative is part of a pilot program called the Community Food Connection. (grubstreet.com)
France: Auchan reports solid year
Auchan Holding has reported a 1.5% growth in consolidated revenue for 2015, excluding tax, to €54.2bn (+1.7% organic and excluding fuel). Operating profit was up 5.5%. In France, revenue was down 2.7% for Auchan Retail, with convenience stores performing better than hypermarkets. Across the eurozone, revenue fell 4.1%, a result mainly attributable to Italy. (igd.com)First Israeli supermarket chain said to open branch abroad
Israel’s Osher Ad chain is set to become the country’s first supermarket to open a foreign branch with an outlet in New York, according to two people familiar with the matter. The discount retailer will open the store with a US partner at an investment of $9m with expected revenue of $100m a year, said the people, who asked not to be named because the plans aren’t public. Osher Ad, which specializes in strictly kosher products, acquired the 70,000-square-feet store in Brooklyn from the receiver of the Pathmark supermarket chain. It’s expected to open at the end of August this year, the people said. (Bloomberg)Israel: Mega supermarket chain sale whittled down to two bids
Three groups submitted bids by Friday deadline, but one dropped out on Sunday, citing consortium differences. The protracted process of selling the financially troubled Mega supermarket chain has taken two steps forward and one back. (haaretz.com)United Fresh announces 2016 produce manager award winners
The United Fresh Produce Association named its 12th group of produce manager award winners, once again honoring 25 front-line workers for their contributions to the industry. Please, click here to view the winners at supermarketnews.com. Swiss deal a perfect fit for Spar
Venturing into Switzerland was a major coup for the Spar group, CEO Graham O’Connor said on Friday, adding that he had turned down deals in two other geographies, having chosen the developed market, which was "an exceptional fit". Mr O’Connor said Spar’s market had become saturated in SA, and the group had decided to roll out a relatively large international expansion. (bdlive.co.za)US: Weis sales, earnings improve in 4Q
Weis Markets late Thursday said improved assortments and promotions triggered a 2.8% sales increase and earnings improved 21% on cost controls during the fiscal fourth quarter. The Sunbury, Pa.-based retailer reported net earnings of $16.6m on sales of $734.1m for the 13-week period ended Dec. 26. (supermarketnews.com)Spanish Euromadi Ibérica looking for new members
In an interview with local trade publication infoRETAIL the president and CEO of Euromadi Ibérica, Jaime Rodriguez, said that the organisation continued to look for new partners, despite signing up Alcampo and Simply as partners recently. Rodriguez pointed to the group’s positive results in 2015, where volume sales rose 5.5% on a comparable basis, with some of its private label products enjoying even faster rates of growth. (igd.com)Spain: Bon Preu enjoys fast paced sales growth in 2015
Bon Preu saw sales rise 11% in 2015 to €986.2m, aided by the addition of 10 stores: two hypermarkets, two supermarkets and six petrol forecourts. The expansion saw Bon Preu end the financial year operating 204 stores: 44 hypermarkets, 119 supermarkets and 38 petrol forecourts. Looking ahead to its 2016 financial year, Bon Pre said it was aiming to generate sales of €1.1 bn as it set out to invest €100m in 2016 and 2017. (igd.com)CA: Couche-Tard, Harnois Group buying Esso stations
Imperial Oil says it has reached deals to sell its remaining 497 Esso retail stations in Canada to five fuel distributors for a total of $2.8bn. Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. is set to buy 279 stations in Ontario and Quebec for nearly $1.69bn. (montreal.ctvnews.ca)
Norwegian Reitangruppen: discount drives 2015 performanceReitangruppen has revealed its 2015 results, reporting that turnover increased by 4.8% to €9.16bn, while operating profit increased by 18.0% to €366.5m. (igd.com)
REMA 1000 turnover: +9.1%
The retailer’s discount banner, REMA 1000, which operates in Norway and Denmark saw turnover growth of 9.1% to €6.8bn and operating profit growth of 5.9% to €207.5m. (igd.com)Reitan Convenience turnover: +5.4%
Reitan Convenience, which includes operations in seven Nordic and Baltic countries through the Narvesen, Pressbyrån, 7-Eleven and R-kioski banners enjoyed a record year, with turnover rising 5.4% €1.6bn and an operating growth of 34.9% of €59.2m. (igd.com)Spanish Uvesco: total sales up 2.8% in 2015
Uvesco, the northern Spain-based chain of supermarkets, said total sales rose 2.8% to €627m in 2015, aided by the addition of six new stores. The expansion saw the retailer invest €25m in 2015, a pace of investment that it is aiming to almost repeat in 2016 as it looks to spend €23m in the addition of six new stores. (igd.com)US: United Supermarkets to acquire 7 Texas, New Mexico stores
United Supermarkets, the Lubbock, Texas-based wholly owned subsidiary of Albertsons, said Friday it has entered into an agreement to purchase seven stores from Lawrence Brothers — five in West Texas and two in New Mexico. The deal is scheduled to close in early summer. (supermarketnews.com)
Kroger and Whole Foods might be investing billions into a losing gamePlease, click here to read the article.