Tesco CEO Sir Timothy Leahy has ended months of speculation by
revealing expansion plans that rule out the notoriously difficult
US market in favour of the unregulated Far East.
Belgian supermarket chain Delhaize will expand further into the US,
continuing to rely on American supermarket sector buoyancy as the
European retail slump continues.
Tesco is the first choice for Britons shopping on the Internet this
Christmas, with two thirds of online grocery shoppers buying from
the retail giant's website, according to new research.
Fierce price wars between the UK's leading supermarkets has
squeezed grocery prices, saving consumers £3 billion in shopping
bills but impacting on suppliers' profitability, according to new
research by Verdict.
Global retail giant Carrefour has issued €750 million worth of
bonds to refinance debts, suggesting that the company is still
struggling under European market pressure.
UK retail giant Tesco is today playing down rumours of a
multi-billion pound deal to acquire 49 per cent of leading American
grocery chain Meijer, amid growing concern that the company's
domestic dominance is damaging British...
Online grocery pioneer Ocado believes it has the most innovative
business model to tap the booming e-tail sector, as the UK's top
supermarkets compete for custom.
Privately held retailers and convenience stores in the UK have
condemned a plan to extend Sunday trading hours, claiming it will
bring the industry one step closer to complete domination by
leading retail giants such as Tesco.
Analysts reveal mixed views over the future of the European
hypermarket format, amidst growing market pressure from competition
watchdogs, discount retailers and planning legislators.
British farmers are today planning another strike in protest over
low prices paid by retailers for their goods, adding to calls from
MPs and lobby groups for mandatory legislation to force
supermarkets into line.
Britain's 'big four' supermarket chains may face pressure as the
Office of Fair Trading (OFT) withdraws its previous ruling
protecting the grocery sector from investigation by the Competition
Commission (CC).
Britain's biggest retailers are responsible for the indiscriminate
destruction of fish stocks according to Greenpeace's latest report
revealing a list of the top-offending supermarket chains.
International food retailers pile on competitive pressure as they
show interest in an Italian supermarket chain - forcing smaller
local franchises to consolidate their efforts to survive.
Budget supermarkets and premium retailers are rejuvenating
Britain's mature grocery sector by responding to new consumer
trends - while the stale supermarket centre-ground has reached full
saturation point.
PricewaterhouseCoopers' (PWC) asserts that retailers cannot afford
to ignore emerging Eastern European markets - but warns that only
the most exploratory and adaptable food retailers will succeed.
Asda Wal-Mart's treatment of workers has been condemned by unions
and charities, who claim that the international retailer has drawn
up a "chip away strategy" aimed at reducing costs and increasing
productivity.
The UK's consumer watchdog has found that the country's major
supermarkets are observing an industry code of practice but that
suppliers are not making use of it.
Europeans in 39 countries spent a combined total of €1,363bn on
food and groceries in 2004, with Germany as the largest market, to
be overtaken by Russia in 2020, according to IGD Services.
Although Russia's food retail market is set to become the largest
on the continent, it will be a tough market for western European
food processors to crack.
Following Wal-Mart's announcement it plans to expand operations
into the rest of Europe, furniture retailer Ikea said it will move
into the grocery market with its own-label products next year.
Moscow's leading retailer, Sedimoy Continent, has launched a new
discount, food hypermarket format that promises new opportunities
in private label as Russia's retailers look to increase their
control of the country's...
Following up on the company's policy on further international
expansion, Wal-Mart's chief executive Lee Scott, indicated the
world's largest retailer was now ready to go after the market's
currenttop dogs.
The UK government must introduce a compulsory new supermarket code
ofconduct if it is to make up for past mistakes and save the food
industryfrom a spiral into anti-competitive practices.
A bid by Asda for retail rival Somerfield would mark an important
new strategy for Britain's number two supermarket, with competition
authorities by no means certain to stand in the way of a deal,
reports Chris Mercer.
Tesco has become the first British supermarket to break the £2
billion profit barrier, leaving its rivals for dust and forcing it
to look outside the UK for extra growth opportunities - yet rising
costs may make the coming year more...
Supermarkets remain the most favoured type of the store in the CEE
region, despite the large number of western players entering the
region with hypermarket or discount formats. But the popularity of
supermarkets is built mainly on...
Britain's biggest food retailer Tesco is being accused of delaying
an investigation by the Office of Fair Trading into the oft-fraught
relationship between food suppliers and their retail customers,
reports Chris Jones.
Dutch retailer Laurus will be glad to see the back of 2004, a year
which saw it struggle with widespread restructuring and a damaging
price war. But 2005 is not guaranteed to be any easier, as the hard
work of rebuilding its business...
Britain's biggest supermarket group Tesco continued to out-perform
its peers over the Christmas period, bucking the general trend of
flat or declining sales with an impressive 7.6 per cent rise in
like-for-like sales. And with...
In what could prove a useful insight for companies such as
Sainsbury, whose stores seem to be in a permanent state of
refitting, market research group Mintel has today revealed that
British shoppers are most interested in getting...
The deregulation of the China retail market is set to provide
significant opportunities for international food retailers next
year as restrictions that have limited foreign players to joint
ventures in the major conurbations are lifted....
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...
A new labelling directive for loose produce in Germany, planned by
the Federal Ministry of Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture,
has created a considerable turbulence in the German food industry
where the plan is regarded as...
The purchasing clout of the major British supermarkets is often
criticised, not least for the apparently detrimental effect it has
on suppliers. But the relationship between the retailers and their
suppliers is not always one of squeezed...
German group Rewe has announced a multi million euro joint venture
with the Russian Marta Group to expand into the former Soviet
Union's food retail market. The project will focus on the growing
neighbourhood shopping sector...
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...
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...
A new initiative has been launched this month in the UK to assess
the levels of product availability in a number of supermarket
chains. But unlike previous assessments, the latest survey will
focus on consumers' perception of...
Guyenne & Gascogne, the French retail group which operates a
number of stores under the Carrefour banner, suffered the same
downturn in sales at its French outlets in 2003 as the larger group
under whose fascia it trades - and...
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...
Axfood, the Swedish retail group, has completed the remodelling of
35 Matex discount stores, rebranding them under its own Willys
banner. The move is part of a wider strategy of focusing on a
handful of brands for different store...
The UK’s Office of Fair Trading (OFT) last week fell short of
confirming what food producers, farmers and lobby groups have been
saying for the last year – that the Supermarket Code of Practice is
failing to curb the power of the...
At the end of a successful year for Estonian food retailers, all
indications are that the number one player is now the Saastumarket
chain of discount stores - however, the market still remains
fragmented.
The Supermarket Code of Practice, designed to regulate the way in
which British retailers do business, has been criticised once again
by a number of consumer and producer organisations for failing to
do enough to curb the power of...
If 2003 was all about Safeway, and in the end Morrison's, in 2004
the UK grocery market agenda will be dominated by price. That is
the key finding of a new report from retail market analysts
Verdict published this week.
