German Kaiser's and Edeka threaten with job losses
The Federal Cartel Office has rejected a merger of Kaiser's Tengelmann and Edeka. Now both enterprises try their luck with the Federal Minister of Economics, n-tv.de reports. Thousands of jobs are at stake. Rewe, the competitor of Kaiser's Tengelmann and Edeka, strongly rejects a ministerial approval for the merger. "There are still other options for Kaiser's Tengelmann." Rewe had expressed an interest to take over its competitor too. And in this case, all jobs would be safe, the company said.
UK: Ocado could partner with U.S. retailer
U.S. retailers seeking a low-risk, less capital-intensive approach to e-commerce might find one across the Atlantic, supermarketnews.com reports. Ocado, a United Kingdom-based online grocery retailer, has publicly expressed a desire to partner with U.S. or other international food retailers, according to Karen Short, an analyst with Deutsche Bank, New York. Ocado is the largest dedicated online grocery retailer in the world and controls a 12% share of the online grocery market in the U.K., including the online grocery business for Morrisons’, with whom it has an exclusivity agreement, Short said. Ocado's 2014 sales were up 15.3% to approximately $1.5bn (U.S.). The company carries around 43,000 SKUs.
UK: Asda reassures suppliers over payment terms
Asda has reassured suppliers that its payment terms and conditions have not changed following a letter stating that new payment terms for the supermarket were 60 days, abladvisor.com reports.
UK: Iceland announces Irish expansion plans
Iceland has announced plans for a significant expansion in the Irish market, which looks set to grow the business from eight stores to between 50 and 70, reports British retail magazine The Grocer. Iceland’s Irish operation will focus on the traditional Iceland format, rather than The Food Warehouse format that its UK expansion plans have relied on. Managing director of Iceland’s Irish arm, Ron Metcalfe, told The Grocer that the chain may open up to 70 new stores in the next five years, adding that there are currently 42 'in the pipeline'. (esmmagazine.com)
Ahold Q1 earnings drop on product promotion costs
Royal Ahold NV, the owner of the Stop & Shop and Albert Heijn supermarkets, said first-quarter earnings dropped due to product promotions in the U.S. as it faces increased competition from chains such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc., bloomberg.com reports. Underlying operating income fell 0.5% to 390m euros ($425m), the company said in a statement Wednesday. On average, analysts surveyed by Bloomberg estimated earnings of 406m euros.
Germany: Schwarz Group's strong 2014 sales growth
Freshplaza already reported on the sales of Schwarz Group this week. Here are some more details on the news story: Schwarz Group has reported a strong net sales growth of 7% year to €79.3 bn in the financial year 2014, retailanalysis.igd.com reports. Lidl’s revenue grew by 9% to €59 bn year on year, while Kaufland’s revenue accounted for €20.3 bn, up 2.8%. Lidl operated around 9,800 stores out of which 3,200 are in Germany. Kaufland operated 1,190 stores, including 640 stores in Germany. Lidl spent around €5 bn on revamping of its old stores, construction of new stores as well as logistics facilities. Indeed, renovation of its stores including expansion of fresh product ranges boosted its revenues. IGD forecasts that Lidl's reveneue will grow around 6% annually between 2014 and 2017, generating revenues of €71 bn by 2017 (excluding new market entries)
US: Fairway sales slide in Q4; smaller prototype announced
Fairway Group Holdings on Tuesday reported sales and earnings that missed expectations during the fiscal fourth quarter, citing decreased store traffic due in part to new competition and the effect of harsh winter weather on sales, supermarketnews.com reports. Sales of $199.1m for the period were down by 0.6% while comps dipped 3.6% as a result of a 6.7% decline in transactions, offset by a 3.4% increase in average basket size. In a conference call discussing results, Jack Murphy, CEO, said Fairway had backed out of a plan to build a store in the developing Hudson Yards project in Manhattan, but would build a 40,000-square-foot store at a former Waldbaums site in Brooklyn that he described as the company’s new prototype.
Alibaba overtakes Amazon as most valuable retailer - Walmart nr. 3
In the tenth annual BrandZTM Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands ranking, released today by WPP and Millward Brown, the most valuable retail brands lack physical stores, internationalsupermarketnews.com reports. Chinese e-tailer Alibaba shot into the top spot of the retail ranking after its IPO, overtaking Amazon and adding its $66.4bn brand value to the sector.
7-Eleven planning 500 new stores in Philippines
Philippine Seven Corp. (PSC), the licensor of 7-Eleven stores in the Philippines, said it is on track to open 500 new outlets this year as a part of a nationwide expansion plan, nacsonline.com reports. More than 130 stores opening in second quarter this year, part of robust expansion plan. At the end of 2014, 7-Eleven operated 1,282 c-stores in the Philippines, with 814 franchise-owned and 468 corporate stores.
UK retail food sales show strong growth
Food retailers reported robust sales volumes last year reflecting a strong performance from the British retail sector as a whole, bakeryinfo.co.uk reports. Growth in retail sales volumes picked up strongly in the year to May and expectations for next month are at their highest for 27 years, according to the CBI’s latest quarterly Distributive Trades Survey.
Food sales and store closures on the rise in Hungary
Retail food sales rose five% reaching HUF 490bn (approx €1.5bn) during the period from last December to March of this year, market research company Nielsen told Hungarian news agency MTI, esmmagazine.com reports. The number of grocery stores operating in Hungary was down five%, to 17,729, in the 12 months leading up to January 2015, according to Nielsen. Most store closures were in Budapest, Pest County and in western Hungary.
UK consumer confidence hits pre-crisis levels of 2006
Consumer confidence rose for the fifth successive quarter in the opening months of this year to hit its highest level since the pre-crisis days of 2006, according to market research company Nielsen, theguardian.com reports. The proportion of people feeling now was a good time to spend was also up; at 45%, it was the highest since comparable records began in late 2006.
