Retail and consumer goods industry news

SPAR International has announced plans to develop the SPAR brand across the Middle East, in a venture with Abu Dhabi Co-operative Society. Third store in UAE confirmed, more to follow Abu Dhabi Co-operative Society (ADCOOPS), SPAR's licensee in UAE, is opening a flagship store for each SPAR format.  A supermarket opened in late 2011 in the Khalidiya region of Abu Dhabi, followed by a sup...

Speaking at a conference, Système U’s President, Serge Papin, has announced that during 2012 the retailer had enjoyed sales growth of 11%, excluding petrol. President highlights positive ‘continuity’ in growth Papin said that during 2012 sales reached €18 billion at Système U , building on growth of 5.6% in 2011, while he was also expecting a similar pace of expansion in 2013. Commenting on ...

Migros Ostschweiz, one of the Swiss market leader's co-operatives, has announced plans to open a supermarket in Liechtenstein in summer 2013. Store to be in Schaan The 1,000 sq m store will open in June, in Schaan, Liechtenstein.  It is co-located with additional retail space which is also available for rent; discussions with prospective tenants are ongoing. Coop Schweiz also in the mar...

The HOK-Elanto co-operative has begun trialling a new self-service collection model in Finland. Next move with Foodie.fm Building on the success S Group has had with its online offer, which uses the Foodie.fm platform, the new service allows shoppers to pick up their groceries from a self-service parcel point. S Group launched a Collect & Go in-store grocery collection in November 2012 ...

Portuguese retailer Sonae MC's preliminary results statement for 2012 shows turnover down by 1.4% year-on-year. Sonae MC outperforms market Sonae MC's sales for 2012 were €3,281m, down 1.4%, despite the impact of a store closure.  Sonae put a positive spin on these results, highlighting their outperformance against a market in which private consumption showed a decline of around 6%.  Co...

Target has appointed Jason Goldberger as Senior Vice President of Target.com and Mobile. Strong track record in developing online businesses Goldberger will join Target on February 11th and will be responsible for all areas of the retailer’s e-commerce operations, including user experience, merchandising and analytics. He brings with him a wealth of experience in online retailing. Most re...

Norway's largest retailer has acquired Scandinavia Holdings' stake in Danish retailer Dagrofa. Retailers to become shareholders Norgesgruppen has entered into a conditional agreement with Scandinavia Holdings and KFI which sees it take over Scandinavia Holdings 55% share of the  Dagrofa business. It has also signed an ownership deal with KFI regarding the future ownerhsip and cooperation in...

Discussing various initiatives taken at Bol.com, Netherlands-based Ahold has said that their effect has provided a strong support to sales. At the same time, the company has announced a doubling in the size of the product range available through its Albert Heijn online store. A review of Bol.com's 2012 initiatives During the year Bol.com: Opened three specialist stores, which the compa...

WH Smith has today announced that it has delivered a "good profit performance" across the business thanks to tightly managed costs, despite falling sales. Tightly managed costs help gross margin Sales across the group fell by 4% (5% on a like-for-like basis) for the 20 weeks to 20th January 2013. Sales at the group's high street stores were down 5%, with sales at its travel stores flat (-4...

Today, Lekkerland Schweiz has announced its acquisition of Valora Services Switzerland's wholesale business. In line with 'Convenience 2020' strategy  Lekkerland's key focus is to expand its position with independent customers, such as kiosks and convenience stores.  The acquisition is therefore a good fit, as a large number of Valora's customers fall into this category.  In terms of prod...