Wegmans Food Markets is extending its Zero Waste initiative, unveiled last year, to more of its stores. The regional supermarket chain said that its Pittsford, Ithaca and Alberta Drive, New York; Westwood, Massachusetts; and Allentown, Pennsylvania, locations are now participating in the program, which was piloted at its Canandaigua, New York, store in 2016. Under the Zero Waste initiative, Wegmans aims to eliminate all forms of waste - primarily food waste - at its supermarkets via a three-pronged approach of “reduce, reuse, recycle.” The company has partnered with Rubicon Global, a cloud-based provider of sustainable waste and recycling solutions, to help drive the program, slated to roll out to additional stores in phases.Source: supermarketnews.com
US: Kroger completes sale of convenience store business
The Kroger Co. has completed the sale of its convenience store business unit to U.K. gasoline and convenience retailer EG Group for $2.15bln and will use $1.2bln to fund an accelerated share repurchase program. Included in the sale were 762 convenience stores, including 66 franchise operations, operating in 18 states and employing 11,000 associates under the Turkey Hill, Loaf 'N Jug, Kwik Shop, Tom Thumb and Quik Stop banners.Source: progressivegrocer.com
Amazon to double down on groceries; foray deeper into fresh produce in India
Amazon.com Inc expects groceries and household products to account for over half of its business in India in the next five years, as it moves to broaden offerings in the segment and foray into areas such as fresh produce. Amit Agarwal, the India head of Amazon, said in an interview: “I would not speculate on when we would launch AmazonFresh but, absolutely, if you ask me the next five years of vision - from your avocados to your potatoes, and your meat to your ice cream - we’ll deliver everything to you in two hours,”.Source: reuters.com
Germany: Penny Market expects 13% sales increase this year in Romania
Supermarket chain Penny Market, which is part of German group Rewe, reached a turnover of almost RON 3bln (EUR 656mln) in 2017, up by 17% compared to 2016. For this year, the retailer expects a 12-13% increase in sales, according to Penny Market general manager Daniel Gross, cited by local News.ro.Source: romania-insider.com
Holland: Sligro Food Group sees marginal sales decline in Q1
Dutch wholesaler Sligro Food Group saw like-for-like sales decline by 0.7% in the first quarter of its financial year. If acquisitions, including the acquisition of the Heineken distribution business, are included, the group posted a 7.9% increase year-on-year for the period, reporting sales of €722mln, compared to €669mln for the same period last year.Source: esmmagazine.com
Denmark: Supermarket chain Fakta to close 47 branches
In a bid to improve its financial position, Fakta is going to close 47 branches around the country by the end of May. At present there are around 400 of them, but the number will be reduced to 359, reports DR Nyheder. Although there has been an improvement from 2016 when the chain posted a deficit of 124mln kroner, it still lost 18mln kroner last year.Source: cphpost.dk
UK: Iceland partners with JD.com to launch flagship store in China
Supermarket chain Iceland is set to launch in China with an online flagship store in partnership with China’s largest retailer JD.com. The UK supermarket brand, which is best known for its own-brand frozen goods, will launch its store on JD Worldwide, the retail giant’s cross-border e-commerce platform. The store will sell Iceland’s own-brand products such as biscuits, cereals and sauces along with a selection of other branded products including cosmetic brands such asPulsin, Re-gen, and Soft and Gentle.Source: thedrum.com
Germany's Metro lowers outlook on weak Russia business
German retailer Metro lowered its earnings outlook for its 2017/18 financial year, citing poor performance at its Russian operations, sending its shares lower. Metro now expects earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to increase only slightly, compared with previous guidance of a roughly 10% increase. Metro, which runs wholesale stores in 35 countries as well as Real hypermarkets in Germany, expects sales to increase by only 0.5%, down from earlier guidance for a 1.1% rise.Source: 4-traders.com
UK retail sales suffer worst quarter in a year after March snow
British retail sales recorded their biggest quarterly fall in a year during the three months to March, after unusually cold and snowy weather kept shoppers at home. Retail sales volumes in March were 1.2% lower than the month before as a period of unseasonal snow and cold weather dubbed ‘The Beast from the East’ kept shoppers at home, a bigger fall than economists had expected in a Reuters poll. For the first quarter as a whole, sales volumes dropped by 0.5% compared with the last three months of 2017, their biggest quarterly fall since the first quarter of 2017.Source: esmmagazine.com
Oman: Lulu Group to open Nujum Al Amerat Mall early next year
With the objective of offering an innovative shopping experience, Lulu Group International will launch the ‘Nujum’ brand of shopping mall in Amerat early next year. Construction of the mid-sized community mall, being developed under the Nujum brand for the first time in Oman, has already begun. The Nujum Al Amerat Mall will be an innovative retail destination that embodies the aspirations of the community. The Nujum shopping mall brand, which is part of the Lulu Group, is already an established name in the hypermarket, supermarket and department store sectors across the region.Source: muscatdaily.com