Europe news & analysis

Leading UK symbol group Londis has launched a range of new initiatives to build communication and information sharing amongst its retail members, in order to create a stronger community of best practice and feedback across the network. The 'Londis Family' programme Under the umbrella of the 'Londis Family' these three new initiatives are titled: Londis Cluster Families, Londis Mentor Scheme an...

In an interview with the Grocer magazine, John Mackey, founder and chief executive of leading US premium grocery retailer Whole Foods Market, has indicated the future of the company in the UK will focus on developing smaller stores.  It is envisaged that new openings in the UK will focus on units as small as 15,000 sq ft. Continues pattern of recent openings Aside from the flagship store in Ken...

Waitrose will be installing coffee machines in all stores following the recent success of trials in its convenience stores. Complementing existing food-to-go offer Waitrose is planning to complete the rollout to all stores by the end of August, including the 92 branches that already have cafes. A Waitrose spokeswoman said, "We know customers like the convenience of being able to get h...

Morrisons has reshuffled its senior team following the announcement of its tie up with Ocado, as it gets set to push multichannel growth. Changes at the top Mark Harrison, the group retail director, and Martyn Fletcher, the group manufacturing director, will be swapping roles. Harrison has been head of store operations for almost a decade, having joined Morrisons as a management trainee...

The first half of 2013 has seen some major changes to the makeup of retailers' senior teams. In this article we round up the most significant appointments. Asda : Major changes following McKenna's move to Walmart The year began with the announcement that Judith McKenna was to vacate her position as COO to take up a new role as executive vice president, strategy and international development...

Aldi Süd in Australia is set to launch an online liquor store on 1 August. This will be the first time that the discounter has offered food or non-food online operations in any of its countries. It has however offered services such as photos, flowers and holidays online in various markets. Extending the reach of liquor categories Aldi's online liquor store ( www.aldiliquor.com.au ) will...

Kaufland, the discount hypermarket format from Schwarz Group, is preparing for an online launch of its grocery offer over the next 24 months. First foray into online The move, reported in Lebensmittel Zeitung, would be Kaufland's first move into the growing online market. It is initially looking at a launch in the German market, with a potential move into its other markets if its initial ...

Metro Group is investing €500m as it attempts to turn around sales and earnings at Real over the next three years, according to German trade press reports. German market in focus Germany is more important than ever now that Real has sold its eastern European business to Auchan. CEO Didier Fleury is under pressure to turn the business around; he was quoted as saying "We are here to deli...

In an interview with LSA, Leclerc’s president, Michel-Édouard Leclerc, gave an update on the retailer’s ecommerce strategy. ‘Retailer to be truly multichannel by 2015’ Leclerc stated that the company is aiming to be ‘ truly multichannel in 2015, rather than multi-format ’. As part of this evolution, Leclerc said that following the launch of a site selling cultural products in April, 150 sto...

As the little Waitrose convenience format opens in a John Lewis department store for the first time, we've been in-store. Here are our initial thoughts. Impressive store, good sized and amply stocked Source: Waitrose at John Lewis The store is located on the second floor of the store, alongside the restaurant, but away from the main John Lewis trading ar...