Europe news & analysis

Prisma, part of the Finnish retailer S Group, is opening another supermarket in Vilnius. Store number four to open in 2014 The new supermarket will open in the first half of 2014 and at the cost of LTL 40m is the first non-leased property in Lithuania. The supermarket will be located in a 10,000sqm shopping centre. International expansion contributing to strong growth Having had a s...

Reitangruppen could be poised to take over ICA’s stores in northern Norway, according to press reports. Transaction involves 108 stores in the north Ealier in the year, ICA entered into an agreement with Norgesgruppen in order to improve its commercial advantage in the market. However, the deal is pending a decision from the Competition Authority. If the deal is not given permission f...

Migros' Basel co-operative has divested its outlets in Germany to Rewe Group, according to Swiss press reports. Involves stores close to border The transaction involves four Migros outlets close to the Swiss border, in Lörrach, Freiburg, Ludwigsburg and Ludwigshafen. The transaction, the price of which was not disclosed, has yet to be approved by the authorities. Does not mark Migros...

Carrefour has announced that it will be relaunching its Carrefour Bio organic private label range in France, while Gazeta Prawna reports that the retailer is promoting Visa contactless payment in Poland. Bio organic to be relaunched in France Carrefour will relaunch its Bio organic private label range in France, adding an extra 50 SKUs to the retailer’s existing 1,000-strong range. The co...

The latest UK grocery market share data from Kantar Worldpanel, for the 12 weeks to 9 June 2013, reveals a downturn in market growth from 3.9% to 3.0%, reflecting the challenging comparative of last year's Jubilee bank holiday. The Kantar measure of inflation indicates that prices rose by 3.9%, unchanged on the previous period and implying a drop in volumes. 12 weeks to 10 June 2...

The convenience channel is going from strength to strength. Our latest forecasts show that the channel will continue to outperform the wider UK grocery market, and will be worth £46.2bn by 2018, up nearly £11bn from 2013. So, how can retailers and suppliers best meet the needs of convenience store shoppers, as they look to improve the shopping experience and drive sales? I’ve accompanied ...

Netherlands-based Ahold has said that it has appointed Hanneke Faber as chief commercial officer and, concurrently with this, has established a new Executive Committee, which is says will enable it ‘ to accelerate its Reshaping Retail strategy ’. New Executive Committee to ‘simplify structure’ The retailer said that the new structure being employed at its executive committee will enable it to...

Netherlands-based Jumbo has announced that it has added two new directors to its board as it continues to integrate C1000. Changes made in response to ‘increasing growth of the Jumbo’ The retailer has said that Matthijs Moeken and Duncan Hoy will be added the Jumbo board, joining from similar positions at C1000. Matthijs Moeken – presently C1000’s director of marketing – will become directo...

The high street discount channel continues to go from strength-to-strength in the UK. As these discounters put more emphasis on their grocery offers, they will become more significant players in the industry, creating a growing number of opportunities for suppliers. Here, we bring you three trends that stood out to us as drivers of growth after we visited stores across the key players. 1. H...

Sainsbury's is to relaunch its Tu clothing brand in September as part of a push to capture a larger share of the non-food market. Tu to become fashion only brand The relaunch will see the Tu brand given a new logo and brand positioning, supported by a marketing campaign to highlight a new "Live Your Style" strapline. Tu will also become a clothing only brand and dropped from the grocer's homewa...