Retail and consumer goods industry news

After a number of delays, LuLu hypermarket's parent company, the Emke Group, has announced that it will open its first store in India in March. Development to be opened in Kochi, Kerala The LuLu hypermarket is part of a shopping centre that will open in Kerala. Emke has invested Rs16 billion in the development, which will also include an ice rink, cinema and restaurants alongside the hyper...

Discount retailer Lidl has begun the construction of a new distribution centre in the northern Rhein-Main area. Enhancing supply chain capabilities Lidl is investing "a double-digit million euro sum" in the new centre located at Magna-Park, that is scheduled to go live by the first quarter of 2014, reports Lebensmittel Zeitung. Lidl is also planning to open its fourth non-food distribu...

Colombia's Grupo Éxito has reported operating revenue growth of 15.7% for 2012, and a 3% increase in the fourth quarter.  Growth driven by aggressive expansion Grupo Éxito opened 86 stores during the year, of which 35 were in Colombia, and entered 15 new mid-sized cities.  It is now present in 82 cities in Colombia. E-commerce operations also revealed strong growth during the year, u...

Following the announcement Casino was reducing prices on branded goods at its hypermarkets, a trade press report from Olivier Dauvers shows significant reductions have kicked in on 5,000 branded items. Survey shows branded prices down 5-6% According to the report, price position on 5,000 branded goods has decreased by 5-6% at the group's hypermarkets. The move is clearly a response to trading ...

Brazil's Grupo Pão de Açúcar (GPA) has revealed net profit up 36.4% in Q4 2012, against the same period in 2011, and +60.7% for the full year. Strong sales growth in food division A better sales mix, control of expenses and operational improvements across all formats drove growth in operating income both for the consolidated group and within the food business specifically.  In terms of...

Chilean retailer Cencosud is to invest USD731m in 2013, across its five Latin American markets.  Organic expansion across the region The investment will be broken down as follows: Chile - USD242m, the largest proportion of investment, will go towards 17 new supermarkets and various non-food stores Brazil - USD116m will include 15 supermarkets Peru - USD80m, including ...

According to trade press reports in Lineaires, Carrefour is set to roll out a new Market supermarket concept that has seen significant sales uplifts in tests. Theatre and local key elements of new concept According to Lineaires, the new concept sees more theatre in fresh, with local suppliers a central element of the offer. Market style table fixtures have transformed fruit and vegetables ...

Sainsbury's has revealed that annual general merchandise sales have reached £1bn for the first time, following a bumper Christmas in which year-on-year sales were a third higher. Cookware and electricals drive growth Cookware sales over the year were up by 16%, helped by well presented own brand ranges such as Sainsbury's Cooks Collection. Small electricals also rose strongly with growth o...

Coles has become the first Australian supermarket to trial a mobile wallet payment system, a significant move as the retailer looks to better leverage the use of the smartphone. Contactless mobile payment and flybuy points with a single swipe Coles has begun trials with 60 customers to test the new Coles Mastercard Mobile Wallet. The new app for smartphones will enable customers to pay for...

Kenya-based Nakumatt’s managing director, Atul Shah, has, at the opening of a new store, discussed how the company will invest more than KES1 billion to improve its existing operations and expand its retail footprint. Five new stores to be added in 2013 At the opening of Nakumatt’s 39th store, Shah said that the company was aiming to add five stores across both Kenya and Uganda. Commenting on...