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☆ How the 'water bed effect' is costing you at the grocery store
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

But that habit creates a "water bed effect," putting pressure on small grocers, an NYT opinion says. For the food industry, the consequences of the water bed effect have included consolidation and less competition, Mitchell wrote. Walmart commanded about one-quarter of US grocery sales in 2021, according to Euromonitor. The subject of grocery consolidation was a concern to small grocers before the most recent merger proposal. Independent grocers represent up to one-third of US grocery sales, according to a 2021 estimate from the National Grocers Association.

☆ Five takeaways about the consumer from Walmart, other retailers after a big week of earnings
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Melissa Repko | In Melissa-Repko | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

So far, at least five retailers – Target, Walmart, Tapestry , Bath and Body Works and Foot Locker – have spoken about sales trends across the country getting worse. The retailer's comparable sales in the U.S. declined 4.6% in the quarter versus the year-ago period. Target, Home Depot and Walmart all saw a noticeable pattern: Fewer pricey and fun items in shopping carts. At Home Depot, customers bought fewer big-ticket items like appliances and grills in the fiscal first-quarter. Customers at Walmart have become more selective when shopping for electronics, TVs, home items and apparel, Rainey told CNBC.

☆ Trader Joe’s reveals why it still refuses to offer grocery pickup or delivery, even as fans beg the chain for online options
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Trader Joe's has avoided offering delivery or pick-up orders for decades. According to an episode of Trader Joe's podcast, released on Monday: A combination of cost and company culture. Trader Joe's shoppers have been asking for the chain to provide delivery for years. Walmart has also expanded its grocery delivery capabilities, hiring drivers and offering unlimited deliveries for members of its own subscription program. Avoiding delivery and pick-up is just one way that Trader Joe's has kept its costs low.

☆ Walmart will report earnings before the bell. Here's what to watch
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Melissa Repko | In Melissa-Repko | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Walmart will report fiscal first-quarter earnings before the bell on Thursday, after Home Depot and Target said shoppers have pulled back on big-ticket items and discretionary purchases. Walmart has attracted higher-income grocery shoppers over the past three quarters by emphasizing value, as food remains pricey. Walmart gave a weaker-than-expected full-year outlook in February, saying it expects same-store sales for Walmart U.S. to rise between 2% and 2.5%, excluding fuel. It said adjusted earnings per share would range from $5.90 to $6.05, excluding fuel, for the fiscal year. Shares have trailed the S&P 500 's roughly 8% gain and the XRT 's nearly 2% gain during the same period.

☆ Trader Joe's long-time CEO and the brains behind the 19-cent banana announces his retirement
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Trader Joe's CEO Dan Bane will retire in July, the grocery store chain said on Monday. "I take great pride that together we have made Trader Joe's the best grocery store in America," Bane said, according to Trader Joe's. With Bane's retirement will come the promotion of Bryan Palbaum to Chairman and CEO and Jon Basalone to Vice CEO, Trader Joe's said. Under Bane, Trader Joe's stuck to a leaner operating strategy than most other US grocery stores. California-based Trader Joe's is owned by the same family who owns Aldi Nord, a German chain of discount grocery stores.

☆ Australia's TechnologyOne halts trading after being hit by cyber attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 10 (Reuters) - Australia's TechnologyOne Ltd (TNE.AX) said on Wednesday it had detected an unauthorised third-party access to its back-office systems, becoming the latest target in a series of cyber attacks that has bogged companies in the country since last year. "TechnologyOne's customer-facing SaaS platform is not connected to the Microsoft 365 system, and therefore, has not been impacted," the enterprise software maker reassured its customers in an exchange filing. The software maker immediately went on a trading halt after the announcement, and said it has isolated the affected systems and will contact the impacted customers after an investigation is conducted. Major firms such as top grocer Woolworths Ltd (WOW.AX), and telecoms Telstra (TLS.AX) and TPG Telecom (TPG.AX) have reported data breaches and unauthorised access, bringing to light corporate vulnerability to cyber attacks. Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini GanguliOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Aldi plans to open 120 new stores this year as the no-frills German grocer doubles down its US expansion
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Aldi is opening 120 new stores this year, including its first locations in two Louisiana cities. The supermarket chain will open 120 new stores this year, the company said. In January, Aldi opened a new distribution center in Alabama "to help support new stores in the area," it said. Aldi has recently opened or plans to open several new stores along the Gulf Coast in states including Alabama, Florida, and Louisiana, Supermarket News reported. Aldi did not immediately respond to a request from Insider for more details on where it plans to open the new stores.

☆ Whole Foods workers at shuttered San Francisco store witnessed knife attacks, a deadly fentanyl overdose, customers trying to defecate on the floor, and other chaos, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A San Francisco Whole Foods was the site of crime and hazardous behavior, the New York Times reported. Whole Foods closed the location last month, citing "the safety of our team members." Whole Foods closed the store last month, just over a year after it opened. The store was located on Market Street, one of the busiest roads in downtown San Francisco. Other retail chains in San Francisco and other large cities have closed locations, citing crime or safety.

☆ Americans in the Midwest are obsessed with these 9 grocery stores
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Hy-VeeAP/Nati HarnikWhere it had the highest share of visits: Iowa (65%), Nebraska (41%), South Dakota (58%)Headquarters: West Des Moines, IowaNumber of stores: 285Started as a single general store in 1930, Hy-Vee's stores today boast beauty sections and 24-hour Chinese takeout. They also have in-store restaurants, including Wahlburgers, Starbucks, and Caribou Coffee, and have partnered with Orangetheory to offer classes. The chain came out on top by store visits in three states, according to Placer.ai's data. It also came in second in three other states: Kansas, Minnesota, and Missouri. Hy-Vee's expansion plans are set to make it more than a regional favorite: The grocer is building stores in the Southern states of Alabama and Tennessee.

☆ Whole Foods Plans Corporate Job Cuts, Shuffles Structure
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Jaewon Kang | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Whole Foods Market, which operates across nine regions, will now have six. Photo: Laura Morton for The Wall Street JournalWhole Foods Market is planning to cut several hundred corporate jobs, the company said, as the grocer reorganizes its structure to simplify operations. The Amazon.com Inc.-owned grocer, which operates across nine regions, will now have six, according to a Thursday memo viewed by The Wall Street Journal. The company is adjusting structures of some corporate teams resulting in staff cuts, according to the memo. Whole Foods isn’t closing any stores or facilities, the memo said.

☆ Amazon-owned Whole Foods is laying off hundreds of corporate employees, including some regional staff
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Whole Foods is laying off several hundred corporate employees, CNBC reported Thursday. Amazon has been adjusting its grocery strategy, including Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh. The cuts will affect "less than half of a percent" of Whole Foods' global workforce, CNBC reported, citing a Whole Foods spokesperson. Positions at Whole Foods stores and distribution centers aren't affected by the layoffs, according to the memo. Among them are cutting prices on frequently purchased grocery items and giving corporate teams more say over matters once delegated to regional staff.

☆ Amazon-owned Whole Foods is laying off hundreds of corporate employees and axing some regional offices
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Whole Foods is laying off several hundred corporate employees, CNBC reported Thursday. The cuts will affect "less than half of a percent" of Whole Foods' global workforce, CNBC reported, citing a Whole Foods spokesperson. Positions at Whole Foods stores and distribution centers aren't affected by the layoffs, according to the memo. The layoffs and reorganization will "further simplify our operations, make processes easier, and improve how we support our stores," according to the memo. Among them are cutting prices on frequently purchased grocery items and giving corporate teams more say over matters once delegated to regional staff.

Whole Foods plans to reorganize certain global and regional support teams over the next two months, the company's executive team wrote in a memo to employees on Thursday. Creating a unified, companywide Operations team by transitioning category-specific store operations support from regions to a single Field Support team within our Global Operations team. by transitioning category-specific store operations support from regions to a single Field Support team within our Global Operations team. Enhancing Team Member Services (TMS) support for Team Members and Leaders across the company by realigning TMS team structures. Adjusting structures and improving processes of several other Global Support teams to provide more effective, timely, and consistent support to stores and ensure support teams can focus on priority initiatives.

☆ What Walmart’s pullback from Chicago says about Corporate America’s limits
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

New York CNN —A line of Chicago mayors heavily courted Walmart over the last two decades, brushing aside community protests. Chains like Dollar General and Family Dollar are expanding in low-income areas, but they don’t sell fresh groceries. Walmart is closing neighborhood markets around the country, and three of the four stores closing in Chicago fall into that category. In Chicago, Walmart is closing in both low-income and high-income areas, a sign that it’s struggling across the city. But it’s the stores in low-income areas that will feel the loss most.

Lawyers for Kroger said in a filing in California federal court that the grocery store shoppers who sued over the deal have failed to define the relevant market necessary to evaluate grocery store competition and to identify how the acquisition would hurt consumers. The attorneys said the lawsuit was lacking "real-world facts." U.S. competition law "does not turn every grocery store consumer in the country into a roving antitrust enforcer," lawyers for Kroger told U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria. State antitrust enforcers also are looking at the deal. The case is Whalen v The Kroger Co, Albertsons Companies Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No.

☆ Britain's Sainsbury's offers lower prices to loyalty card holders
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( James Davey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Illuminated signage is seen at a branch of the Sainsbury's supermarket in London, Britain, January 7, 2022. Sainsbury's' "Nectar Prices" scheme offers discounts on items including household products, pet food and confectionary when members scan their Nectar app or swipe their card at the supermarket checkout, or if shopping online link their Nectar and Sainsbury's accounts. "We will keep refreshing Nectar Prices and increasing the variety of products on offer," said Sainsbury's CEO Simon Roberts. Nectar members will continue to earn points for purchases which can be spent either at Sainsbury's or with partners. The new initiative builds on a scheme launched in 2021 that saw Sainsbury's offer lower prices to Nectar members using its "SmartShop" self-scanner service.

☆ Whole Foods suddenly closed a San Francisco store just a year after opening it
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Whole Foods is closing its flagship store in San Francisco just over a year after it opened. Retailers like Walgreens have previously cited increased crime for stores closing in the city. The grocery store's last day open was Monday, The San Francisco Standard reported. Other retailers have cited crime as the reason for closing locations in San Francisco. Downtown San Francisco also hasn't been as busy since the start of the pandemic, the Standard reported.

☆ Whole Foods Market Explores Building Off-Site Kitchens to Supply Food Bars
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( Jaewon Kang | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Whole Foods wants to improve the shopping experience for its customers. Whole Foods Market is exploring building commercial kitchens that would make prepared meals for the grocer’s food bars and refrigerated cases, people familiar with the matter said. The move is a shift for the Amazon .com Inc.-owned supermarket operator, which has outsourced much of its food production to other companies after years ago closing its own kitchens to cut costs.

☆ Yes, that TikToker is wearing an Aldi tracksuit
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Aldi unveiled a line of clothing and accesories featuring the company's colors and logo. The line, called "Aldi Gear," is available nationwide, and none of the items sell for more than $9.99 each, the company said. The latest products come about a year after the first line of Aldi Gear, which included water bottles, t-shirts, and sandals. Since then, Aldi has opened roughly 2,300 stores in the country and remains one of the fastest-growing grocery chains, according to industry publication Winsight Grocery Business. Roughly half of all grocery stores opened in the US last month were Aldi locations, Winsight reported.

☆ Boxed bankruptcy could be blamed on Silicon Valley Bank's collapse, but its problems extend far beyond the bank run
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Lower demand for grocery delivery hurt sales long before the bank's collapse. But since then, the pandemic-fueled demand for grocery delivery has dissipated. Consultancy Brick Meets Click forecasted in January that grocery e-commerce sales will grow at a rate of 12% through 2027. That's a tremendous slowdown from early in the pandemic when e-commerce grocery jumped an average of 300% each month. Other startups in the grocery delivery space have faced issues.

☆ This Bernstein stock-picking model beats the market by 6% a year. Here are its top picks today
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Michelle Fox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Instead of relying on fundamental research or quantitative analyses alone to identify stocks that will outperform, Bernstein combines both models. The Wall Street firm used its Bernstein and Autonomous sell-side analysts' recommendations as a proxy for the fundamental stock picker. His $200 target price suggests nearly 26% upside from Tuesday's close. According to his $265 price target, the stock could rally 38% from Tuesday's close. Rosenblum's price target of $54 implies 10.4% upside from Tuesday's close.

☆ These top grocery stores are dominating the Midwest from Hy-Vee to Cub Foods
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Profit at UK supermarket Asda slumps on inflation hit
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, March 29 (Reuters) - British supermarket group Asda on Wednesday reported a 24% fall in annual earnings after it decided not to pass the full impact of cost inflation onto consumers, taking a hit to profits instead. Asda, owned by brothers Zuber and Mohsin Issa and private equity firm TDR Capital, said core earnings, or adjusted EBITDA, were 886 million pounds ($1.1 billion) in 2022, down from 1.17 billion pounds in 2021, on flat sales of 20.45 billion pounds. Grocery inflation in March hit a record high of 17.5%, according to market researcher Kantar. The group said it was making progress towards achieving its long-term goal of becoming the number two supermarket in UK grocery. In January, the Times reported that the Issas and TDR were exploring a merger of EG and Asda.

☆ UK grocery inflation hits new high of 17.5% -Kantar
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( James Davey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SummarySummary Companies Grocery inflation in March at highest level ever recordedMilk, eggs and cheese show fastest price risesShoppers face 837 pounds rise in annual grocery billLONDON, March 28 (Reuters) - British grocery inflation rose again in March to a record 17.5%, inflicting yet more pain on consumers battling a cost-of-living crisis, industry data showed on Tuesday. Market researcher Kantar said prices were rising fastest in markets such as eggs, milk and cheese. "It’s more bad news for the British public, who are experiencing the ninth month of double-digit grocery price inflation," said Fraser McKevitt, Kantar's head of retail and consumer insight. The Kantar data for March provides the most up to date snapshot of UK grocery inflation. It said total grocery sales over the 12 weeks to March 19 rose 8.6%.

☆ A New York grocery store is using biometrics including eye scanners and voice prints to identify repeat shoplifters. Some shoppers say that's creepy — even if it deters theft.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

New York City grocer Fairway is collecting biometric data on its shoppers to catch shoplifters, the New York Post reported. Fairway is gathering facial recognition and other biometric information, such as voice recordings, on shoppers at one of its Manhattan locations, the New York Post reported on Thursday. Fairway told the Post that its system will only be accessed by "trained asset protection associates." Nearly one-third of the arrests made for shoplifting in New York City last year involved the same 327 people, the Post reported in January. But an investigation that year by the San Francisco Chronicle found that the affected stores reported fewer than two shoplifting incidents per month leading up to the closures.

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