All articles by Planet Retail – Page 34

  • News

    Turnover improves at Shoprite

    2012-01-26T07:00:00Z

    African grocery retailer Shoprite issued results for the first half of its financial year to December 2011. Turnover improved 13.2% to ZAR41.1bn (£3.3bn) while like-for-likes rose 8%. In its home market, the retailer’s sales increased 12.3% and by 6.8% on a like-for-like basis. Official statistics put food inflation at 9% ...

  • News

    Amazon considering entering India

    2012-01-26T07:00:00Z

    Amazon may enter India via the launch of its market place platform in a bid to overcome foreign direct investment restrictions on multi-brand retail, it has been reported. Industry sources said the etail giant had already struck deals with other online retailers in preparation for the launch, which would initially ...

  • News

    Abercrombie & Fitch considers India expansion

    2012-01-26T07:00:00Z

    Abercrombie & Fitch staff have visited India as it considers setting up shop in the country. An Abercrombie & Fitch spokesperson said: “We are constantly evaluating new opportunities for our brands, including new countries, for expansion.”Gap is also said to have stepped interest into the market after the government allowed ...

  • News

    Cost-cutting at La Redoute

    2012-01-25T07:00:00Z

    PPR-owned mail order retailer La Redoute may cut 250 jobs as part of a new cost-cutting initiative designed to make the retailer a pure-play online operation. The job losses would be mainly voluntary redundancies over a three-year period. Last week it was revealed that PPR was cutting 510 jobs at ...

  • News

    Carrefour’s global brand director departs

    2012-01-25T07:00:00Z

    Carrefour’s global brand director Laurent Blum has left the retailer. Before his appointment by chief executive Lars Olofsson at the end of 2009, Blum was vice-president of Nestlé Waters France, responsible for marketing and sales. Blum will reportedly not be replaced, and his duties will be reassigned between the internal ...

  • News

    Ahold reports net sales growth

    2012-01-25T07:00:00Z

    Grocery retailer Ahold has reported consolidated net sales of E30.3bn (£25.35bn) for 2011 – a 2.5% increase compared with the previous year and a 5.5% rise at constant exchange rates. An Ahold spokesperson said: “We continue to be well positioned in challenging market conditions.” In the US, sales improved 6.6% ...

  • News

    X5 Retail Group reports net retail sales increase

    2012-01-25T07:00:00Z

    X5 Retail Group has reported a 32% increase consolidated net retail sales of RUB452.5bn (£9.3bn) for 2011. Like-for-like sales rose 6%, with a 1% drop in customer traffic and a 7% increase in average basket. However, like-for-like sales growth at Pyaterochka more than halved to 5% compared with last year ...

  • News

    Massmart reports sales increase

    2012-01-20T07:00:00Z

    Retail and wholesale group Massmart has reported that sales rose 15% to R31.6bn (£2.56bn) during the first half to the end of December 2011. Like-for-likes increased 9.2% during the same period.The announcement follows several price promotions during the half, triggered by Walmart’s acquisition of a 51%majority stake in June 2011, ...

  • News

    Kroger launches fully-automated convenience store

    2012-01-20T07:00:00Z

    Grocery retailer Kroger has launched a fully-automated convenience store on the campus of Ohio Northern University in Ada. The 9-ft tall unit, provided by Shop24 Global, offers about 200 standard convenience products such as drinks, snacks, refrigerated meals, cleaning supplies and over-the-counter medicines. The machine’s stocking and dispensing system can ...

  • News

    Ikea to pursue growth avenues

    2012-01-20T07:00:00Z

    Home furnishings retailer Ikea Turkey’s general manager Fuat Atalay has told local press that the group will pursue several avenues of growth over the next five years. Its strategy includes the opening of three new stores, the launch of a transactional ecommerce site for the whole country and better targeting ...

  • News

    Grupo Pão de Açúcar reports net sales increase

    2012-01-20T07:00:00Z

    Casino-owned Grupo Pão de Açúcar has reported a 21.2% increase in net sales to BRL13.4bn (£4.9bn) for the fourth quarter.Total sales for 2011 jumped 45.2% to BRL46.6bn (£17.1bn). Despite weaker demand amid the economic slowdown, like-for-like gross sales at the grocery retailer’s food division rose 8.7%, the highest quarterly growth ...

  • News

    Culture Convenience Club posts rise in book and magazine sales

    2012-01-19T07:00:00Z

    Culture Convenience Club has posted a 106% rise in book and magazine sales to ¥102.4bn (£871.5m) at its Tsutaya store network for 2011.The home entertainment retailer attributed the increase to the strengthening of its catalogue stock, resulting in an uplift in the number of subscriptions, as well as utilising its ...

  • News

    Beauty retailer Sa Sa reports sales increase

    2012-01-19T07:00:00Z

    rise of 28.9% to HK$1.81bn (£152.1m) for the third quarter ended December 31, 2011. Sales soared 25.9% (20.7% on a like-for-like basis) in Hong Kong and Macau. Chairman and chief executive Dr Simon Kwok said of the performance: “The group remains cautiously optimistic on the retail sector of the Asian ...

  • News

    Rewe Group to acquire Citistore chain

    2012-01-19T07:00:00Z

    Rewe Group’s supermarket division Billa in Russia is to acquire the Citistore chain operating 17 retail stores in Moscow.Citistore, formerly known as Migros Turk’s Ramstore, consists of seven owned and 10 long-term leased stores with a total sales area of 215,000 sq ft. Billa has opened just 72 stores since ...

  • News

    Magnit reports revenue increase

    2012-01-18T07:00:00Z

    Grocery retailer Magnit has reported that preliminary consolidated, unaudited net retail revenue increased 42.1% to RUB335.6bn (£6.9bn). The retailer reported strong like-for-like sales growth of 11.1% together with increases of 9.7% in basket and 1.3% in traffic. Supermarkets and neighbourhood stores outperformed hypermarkets with like-for-like growth of 11.6% and 6.7% ...

  • News

    Celesio plans sale of logistics business

    2012-01-18T07:00:00Z

    Pharmacy operator Celesio plans to sell its logistics business, inviting investment banks to pitch for the mandate to arrange the auction.Movianto is a contract logistics service provider for the pharmaceutical, bio-technology and healthcare industry and part of Celesio’s smallest and youngest division, Manufacturer Solutions. The subsidiary’s future has been uncertain ...

  • News

    Komplett acquires stake in Blush

    2012-01-18T07:00:00Z

    Online electronics retailer Komplett has acquired a stake in Blush, an online health and beauty retailer. Komplett chief executive Ole Vinje said: “This is a whole new product category for us. Blush offers consumer products for beauty and wellness that are easy to order and, not least, easy to have ...

  • News

    Coop (Switzerland) announces preliminary sales

    2012-01-16T07:00:00Z

    Coop (Switzerland) has announced preliminary sales for its 2011 financial year. Net sales rose 38.9% to CHF27.8bn (£18.90bn) thanks to the full acquisition in January 2011 of TransGourmet, the former 50:50 wholesale and food-service joint venture between Coop (Switzerland) and German Rewe Group. Sales at the retail division fell 0.9% ...

  • News

    Walmart Canada to cut prices on 7,000 items

    2012-01-16T07:00:00Z

    Walmart Canada is cutting prices on 7,000 items during January. The cuts are on all major categories across grocery and general merchandise and, Walmart says, are expected to translate into customer savings of more than C$25.7m (£16.2m) this month.“With the holiday season over, we know our customers are experiencing budget ...

  • News

    Sugi posts net sales rise

    2012-01-13T07:00:00Z

    Japanese drugstore business Sugi has posted a 7.5% rise in net sales to ¥244.6bn (£2.06bn) for the nine months to November 30. Operating profit increased 45.1% to ¥13.6bn (£114.5m) while net profit climbed 52.4% to ¥9.4bn (£79.2m). During the period, the retailer aimed to enhance synergies between its drugstore and ...