Europe news & analysis

German hypermarket retailer Kaufland will add Decathlon sports stores next to five more locations in 2023. Enhancing the shopper experience Following the success of their first partnership in Karlsruhe, Kaufland and Decathlon will be teaming up in five more locations in 2023. The agreement sees Decathlon open stores on Kaufland rental space. Other sites will involve old Real stores, that...

CK Hutchison reported its retail revenue (A.S. Watsons) fell by 2.0% to HKD169.6 bn (US$21.9 bn), and its earnings (EBITDA) decreased by 11% to HKD14.3 bn (US$1.8 bn) in its full year 2022 results. In local currencies, its total revenue increased by 6%, while EBITDA declined by 2%. Performance of A.S. Watsons across different markets and businesses • Healthy and Beauty China sales decreased...

Circle K’s parent company, Couche-Tard, has entered into a firm offer to acquire assets from TotalEnergies in Germany and the Netherlands, and a 60% controlling interest in its Belgium and Luxembourg entities. The €3.1 bn deal is subject to regulatory approvals and will be submitted to relevant employee representative bodies. Adding over 2,000 sites This deal covers operations across 2,193 ...

Tesco is set to introduce Amazon style ‘fulfilment fees’ for suppliers to its online stores. Fees to apply to both online and wholesale The fees, revealed by The Grocer, are set to be in place from as early as this week with the retailer rumoured to be charging 12p per unit for branded products and 5p per unit for own label items. The fees will apply to both online and wholesale. Separately...

Casino Group has signed an exclusive agreement to merge its French retail activities with Teract A merger to create two entities Casino has announced its plans to merge with Teract, who operates a distribution network in France, focussed on garden centre / pet retail and food retail such as bakeries, organic and fresh produce specialist stores.  It is majority owned by the InVivo agricultur...

Spanish market leader reported a consolidated sales growth of 11% in 2022 but highlights the tough market conditions had major impacts on its profitability. However, Mercadona claims the effort to reduce the groups margin has made it possible to produce savings of more than 5.7 million households, as the retailer did not transfer €375m of cost increases to shoppers baskets. Positive sales perfo...

Having opened a Phase 1 investigation into the acquisition of Co-op’s 132 petrol forecourt sites by Asda in January 2023, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced it has found the deal raises competition concerns in 13 locations across the UK. In the 13 locations the CMA believes the businesses currently compete for customers and would not face sufficient competition after the...

The Grocer has reported that independent chain Jempson’s is to become the second Together with Morrisons retailer, with plans to convert its six stores to the dual-branded fascia. Jempson’s will convert its superstore in Peasmarsh to the new fascia later this spring, with the remainder of the estate to follow during 2023. The move will be a blow for Nisa, which has been Jempson’s primary supplier...

Delhaize has announced plans to sell all of its in-house stores to independent franchisers. Transition to one operating model Delhaize currently operates in Belgium with two models for stores. Firstly, its affiliate model includes 636 stores operated by independent franchisees across its AD Delhaize, Proxy, and Shop & Go banners. It also has 128 stores currently under own management. The...

Following years of speculation, German discounter Lidl has begun testing Scan & Go in the Netherlands. Seven Dutch stores go live Lidl shoppers in the Netherlands can now benefit from less queuing, as the discounter launches scan & go in seven stores. The stores testing the technology can be found in Halsteren, Hilversum, Huizen, Nijkerk, Oosterhout, Oud-Beijerland and Velp. Improving th...