Having just opened its 700th grocery store in Poland, Portuguese
retailer Jeronimo Martins intends to maintain its focus on the
smaller store format. Success in this market is helping the company
remain profitable, despite stagnant...
Convenience stores and hypermarkets - formats at opposite ends of
the retail spectrum - will be the main drivers of growth in the
British food retail market over the next five years, according to
grocery think tank IGD. The UK market...
Food retailers often find themselves accused of preying on other
players the food chain - exerting undue pressure on suppliers,
destroying local community jobs by opening new stores and impacting
the environment by opening them in...
French retailer Casino saw a slight downturn in growth in the
second quarter of the year, impacted by fewer shopping days and the
cost of revamping its convenience business. But a solid performance
from the discount business in France...
The price war in the Dutch retail market continues to impact retail
businesses there, none more so than Laurus which is also trying to
revamp its business at the same time.
Russian food retailing is continuing its dynamic performance of the
last five years, but alongside the development of the Moscow and
St. Petersburg markets, other provincial capitals are now proving
to be targets, according to a recent...
Ahold has reached an agreement with its Scandinavian joint venture
partner ICA Förbundet over the acquisition of a 20 per cent stake
in the ICA AB retail unit previously owned by the Norwegian firm
Canica.
Marks & Spencer's new chief executive Stuart Rose has completed
his review of the company's business, and it makes for pretty
depressing reading for M&S shareholders - not least the 'middle
class and boring'...
Being the biggest does not mean being the best, it appears.
Europe's largest food retailer Carrefour has announced that it will
not meet its sales targets for 2004 after a second poor quarter
from its French hypermarket division.
UK-based Northern Foods, one of the biggest suppliers to UK retail
giant Marks & Spencer, wants to establish new conditions before
agreeing to proposed price cuts and margin improvements, writes
Anthony Fletcher.
Discount stores have never been as popular in the UK as they are in
some other European countries - notably Germany - but British
retailers should not underestimate the power of low-price formats,
especially in international markets,...
As Dutch retailer Ahold sifts through more than 50 offers for its
Spanish retail business, the group could find itself faced with the
enforced acquisition of a 20 per cent stake in Nordic partner ICA.
But despite the wholesale changes...
The widespread restructuring of Ahold's business announced two
years ago looks set to continue to impact results at the Dutch
retail group this year, with first quarter results hit by disposals
and currency exchange rates.
Beleaguered British retailer Marks & Spencer has rejected an
initial takeover bid from Philip Green, preferring instead to put
its faith in a new management team. But the retail entrepreneur is
thought unlikely to give up so easily,...
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has confirmed
that it is awaiting the final review of a financing package that
will provide Russian retailer Lenta with €30 million to construct
four new hypermarket outlets in...
Every supermarket owner is constantly seeking ways of driving
growth across every product category, be it through innovation,
promotion or refurbishment. But a recent survey suggests that their
best efforts are being let down at the...
France's loi Galland, the legislation which regulates the
relationship between suppliers and retailers, has come under fire
this month with both food manufacturers and supermarket groups
calling for a relaxation of the rules...
Migros Turk AS, the largest food retailer in Turkey, is to expand
its business operations in the central European region, with the
announcement that it is to open up further retail outlets in FYR
Macedonia through a loan from the...
British retailers are widely regarded as some of the best in the
world, leading the way in areas such as own labels, loyalty cards
and retail services. But many of them are, it seems, failing to
perform to the best of their ability...
Somerfield, the UK supermarket group, said that its ongoing store
refit programme had a major effect on sales in 2003, in particular
the makeover given to the Kwik Save discount store chain. But this
was not enough to save the Kwik...
Eight former Communist countries from central and eastern Europe
will tomorrow join the European Union, the culmination of 15 years
of rapid economic and social development since the end of Soviet
rule. But with most of the leading...
A new strategy designed to give Britain's retail sector early
warning of new regulations which could affect the way stores do
business has been welcomed by the industry, which hailed it as a
first step towards improving the lot...
Tesco, Britain's leading food retailer, has this week reaffirmed
its intention of becoming a major player in the Asian supermarket
sector with the announcement of another acquisition there. But the
deal came not, as expected,...
Coop Suisse benefited from the consolidation of two recent
acquisitions to steal market share from its rivals in 2003. Despite
a continued downturn in consumer spending, organic and ethical
products performed particularly well during...
Carrefour might be Europe's biggest food retailer, but even it is
not immune to the continued weakness of the economy in its home
market. The ongoing drop in French consumer purchasing power has
forced the company to invest heavily...
Assessing consumer tastes and demands is all part and parcel of the
modern food retail business, but keeping track of their hopes and
fears can also help supermarkets ensure that they have the right
products on their shelves at the...
Swiss retailer Bon appétit has shrugged off a drop in turnover to
post double digit growth in operating profits for 2003 - a welcome
return to the black after 2002's figures were impacted by
extraordinary charges, writes Chris...
Food manufacturers are aware that in a visually noisy world, their
product must be carefully packaged to appeal to the target
audience. Over 80 per cent of consumer decisions are made at the
store shelf.
Swiss co-operative retailer Migros has ended 2003 with a slight
increase in sales compared to the previous year, with low levels of
consumer spending taking a major toll on its performance. But with
the increase coming only as a result...
China has recently relaxed the rules obliging foreign retail groups
to take a local partner, a move expected to lead to rapid growth in
the number of international retailers doing business there. But
despite Chinese consumers'...
German retail giant Metro shrugged off currency effects and tough
economic conditions in its home market last year to post a 4 per
cent increase in sales - driven mainly by its larger store formats
such as cash & carry warehouses...
Britain's major food retail groups have frequently been accused of
contributing to the rapid demise of many town centres, with the
development of out-of-town supermarkets often leading to other
retail outlets setting up shop...
Tesco has raised £640 million (€973) by selling off 33 of its UK
stores. The supermarket chain plans to rent the stores on a long
leasehold and carry on running the operations, and claims that
customers will not see any change.
A decision this week by the Chinese government to lift restrictions
on foreign investment in the retail sector is likely to lead to a
rise in the number of companies seeking a share of the huge Chinese
market. But with the authorities...
The failure by UK Chancellor Gordon Brown to take any measures to
lift some of the administrative burden on the UK food retail sector
- or to give it any incentives to stimulate growth or reward it for
innovation - has been heavily...
Mainstream food retailers in Germany need to do more to combat the
growing threat of discount chains such as Aldi and Lidl, claims a
recent report by consultancy firm KPMG. But companies offering more
convenient stores with a wider...
Waitrose is not the cheapest food retailer in the UK, nor does it
offer the largest range of services. But it does claim to have the
best quality and service levels in the industry - a focus on the
premium end of the market which...
A tighter focus on discount outlets continues to pay dividends for
French retail group Casino, whose 2003 figures also benefited from
an upturn in its international operations, writes Chris
Jones.
Supermarkets account for around 5 per cent of the UK's annual
energy consumption, pump 600,000 tons of carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere per year from their delivery lorries and produce enough
plastic carrier bags to cover all...
The wholesale sector in the UK is expected to continue to play an
important role in the grocery sector for the next ten years, in
particular in helping brand owners improve their relationship with
independent retailers. But while...
After three successive years of depressed consumer spending and low
prices, German retailers are hopeful that 2004 will see a return to
growth, albeit at a relatively low level.
Britain's number one food retailer is about to stretch its lead
even further following the announcement on Friday that its proposed
takeover of convenience store group Adminstore had been approved by
the Office of Fair Trading....
E.Leclerc claims that its low-price policy kept its hypermarket
sales buoyant in 2003 as French consumers tightened their belts and
switched to discount stores. But what is really needed to
revitalise the retail sector is a change...
Carrefour, the French retail giant, said that it met its profits
growth targets for 2003 but that it was raising the bar even higher
in 2004 as it revamped its French operations and continued its
worldwide expansion.
Britain's biggest food retailer Tesco looks set to take a further
step towards its goal of competing with global giants such as
Carrefour and Wal-Mart with a move into the massive Chinese retail
market.
With Germany mired in one of the worst post-war recessions, the
excellent 2003 performance of Cologne-based retail group Rewe was something of a
novelty. But the group is clearly confident that the performance
will not be a one off,...
A new guide from UK-based research group CCFRA has been published
that will help chilled food manufacturers and retailers determine
the shelf-life of their products. The guide aims to improve both
the safety and quality of chilled...
The dominance of the multiple retailers in the UK has had a
devastating effect on the specialist retail sector there, with the
massive buying power of the major chains allowing them to undercut
independent operators at the same time...
The dominance of the multiple retailers in the UK has had a
devastating effect on the specialist retail sector there, with the
massive buying power of the major chains allowing them to undercut
independent operators at the same time...
