Retail and consumer goods industry news

Spanish co-operative Consum's franchise network, Charter, has reported sales growth of 22% for 2012. New stores driving sales growth Charter franchise stores reported turnover of €114.2m in 2012, driven by expansion.  A number of new members joined the franchise network during the year.  Charter opened 18 new stores in 2012, mainly in the 'home market' of Comunidad Valenciana where it op...

Netherlands-based Jumbo has announced that it will be introducing a new store concept, which will bring in elements of foodservice, when it opens the Jumbo Food Market in Breda in March. Jumbo aiming to offer ‘unique experience’ On announcing the new store concept, Jumbo said that it will combine elements of a supermarket and a consumer foodservice operation. At more than 6,000 sq m the sto...

Morrisons has strengthened its marketing team with the appointment of a new customer director and launched a new microsite to mark its sponsorship of ITV's "Ant and Dec's Saturday night takeaway." Crawford Davidson appointed Crawford Davidson joined Morrisons last week from mobile specialist Telefonica and has extensive experience in senior marketing roles, including acting managing director ...

The health and beauty retailer has acquired a 49% stake in its hearing provider David Ormerod Hearing Centres in the UK. Boots UK committed to developing hearing care Boots HearingCare currently operates over 340 practices within Boots stores in the UK . The investment demonstrates Boots UK’s commitment to developing hearing care services across the UK enabling customers to have access to ...

Walmart de Mexico is to invest around $1.4bn in 2013 in expanding its operations in Mexico and Central America. Store growth across existing and new cities Although Walmart de Mexico did not reveal how many stores would open as a result of this investment, total space growth will be between 7.8% and 8.7%. In Mexico , space growth is forecast to be between 8% and 9%, and around 6% in Centr...

Qatar-based Al Meera has announced that it has opened its first Géant hypermarket in its home market, following the agreement it signed with Casino in 2011. Géant brand to be expanded by Al Meera Al Meera signed a franchise agreement with Casino that will see it add hypermarkets and supermarkets in Qatar and Oman. The recently opened store, at the Hyatt plaza in Doha, is the first evidence ...

Lee Seung-han will retire from his position in May following 16 years leading Homeplus in South Korea. CEO of Malaysia to take the reigns Lee's continuous service with Tesco since it entered the market in 1999 has contributed to the retailer's positive growth trajectory. Whilst Tesco's recent performance has been tested by challenging trading conditions following legislative changes, South ...

CVS pharmacy, one of America's largest drugstore chains, has announced the relaunch of its private label food brand. Improvements all round CVS pharmacy has relaunched its Gold Emblem range of private label products.  The range comprises around 250 products across a number of food categories, including snacks, desserts, beverages, confectionery, juices and breakfast bars.  The new i...

Waitrose will launch a new drive-through click and collect service as  part of a wider multimillion pound investment in its multichannel operations. Complementing existing services Waitrose will open its first drive-through collection point in Cheltenham in March, followed by drive-throughs in Southend, Salisbury, Wolverhampton and Lincoln. Shoppers will be able to pick up online orders ...

German discount chain Lidl is planning to extend its executive board with two new additions from its Central Europe teams. New appointments from within Lidl team Two major changes will take place with the Lidl board, subject to consent from supervisory bodies expected in April. The first will see Bojan Luncer, who joined Lidl Croatia in 2002, become responsible for multiple country oper...