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☆ 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.

☆ Bed Bath & Beyond store closures will kick off a land grab for fast-growing retailers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Melissa Repko | In Melissa-Repko | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

In strip malls across the country, Bed Bath & Beyond stores have "Closing Soon" signs. Its shuttered stores will kick off a land grab for retailers hungry for additional space. Bed Bath will join a list of other bankrupt companies, such as Kmart and Sears, that vacated spaces and made way for stores. Former Bed Bath stores could turn into a variety of other retail spaces, said Deborah Weinswig, CEO of Coresight Research, a retail advisory group. Weaker retailers' locations thinned out during the fallout of the Great Recession and again during the Covid pandemic, said James Bohnaker, senior economist with Cushman & Wakefield.

☆ Higher Food Prices Bring Bigger Profits, but Consumers Start to Resist
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Lora Kelley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Brenetta Smith used to buy brand-name foods like Oreos and Doritos without thinking twice. But when she noticed that food prices at her local supermarket, Aldi, were soaring, she realized she had to do something different: “I have to change the way I shop,” she said. So Ms. Smith, 40, a stay-at-home parent in Memphis, started stocking up on dry goods like rice and flour, freezing meat that she bought on sale and avoiding packaged foods, which meant no more Oreos and Doritos. “Even when the world returns to normal, you can still maximize your paycheck and your income,” Ms. Smith said. She started posting budget tips on TikTok in December, and she quickly amassed a following.

☆ Britain's Sainsbury's expects to beat market forecasts this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( James Davey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

It said on Thursday underlying pretax profit was 690 million pounds ($861 million) in the year to March 4, at the top end of guidance but down from the 730 million pounds made in 2021-22. For the 2023-24 year Sainsbury's forecast profit between 640 and 700 million pounds, ahead of analysts' average forecast of 631 million pounds. Earlier this month, market leader Tesco (TSCO.L) reported a 6.3% fall in annual profit and forecast a flat outcome for 2023-24. Sainsbury's spent over 560 million pounds over the two years to March 2023, funded by cost savings, to keep a lid on prices, taking a hit to profit. Its 2022-23 statutory pretax profit fell to 327 million pounds from 854 million pounds, impacted by non-cash asset impairments.

☆ 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.

☆ 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.

☆ Walmart is cheaper than Dollar General for groceries
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Dollar General has hiked food prices more than Walmart and Kroger, Bank of America analysts found. The study documented prices on a range of grocery items in February at retailers in Dallas, including Walmart, Kroger, Target, Dollar General, and Aldi, among others. At Dollar General, prices rose 36%, the steepest increase of all the retailers, Bank of America analysts Robert Ohmes and Kendall Toscano wrote. A comparable selection at Target totaled $194.15, while the cost at Dollar General was $201.14. Do you work or shop at a Dollar General and have a story to share?

☆ In the 'Garden of England', loss-making orchards are cut down
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Sarah Young | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The fruit that helped give the "Garden of England" its name hundreds of years ago no longer makes money so farmer James Smith is tearing down his orchards. Turning a profit from selling red apples to supermarkets has been a struggle for years, he said. In Kent, Smith is removing 80% of his orchards. Last year growing apples lost him 150,000 pounds ($186,000), a loss which would have been higher had it not been cushioned by other income streams from his land. He's also planting a vineyard and is growing small amounts of cherries, the fruit which legend has it prompted King Henry VIII to first call Kent the "Garden of England".

☆ 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.

☆ Walmart is cheaper than Dollar General for groceries, as the dollar chain hikes prices faster than its rivals
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Dollar General has hiked food prices more than Walmart and Kroger, Bank of America analysts found. At Dollar General, prices rose 36%, the steepest increase of all the retailers, Bank of America analysts Robert Ohmes and Kendall Toscano wrote. At Family Dollar, another chain of dollar stores, it was $203.67." Consumers have also turned to Dollar Stores, given their reputation for inexpensive stuff, CNBC reported in February. Do you work or shop at a Dollar General and have a story to share?

☆ 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%.

☆ From groceries to clothes, inflation-weary Americans flock to cheaper products online
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Across 11 categories of e-commerce, high-priced goods have lost meaningful market share to low-cost ones, according to Adobe. As of the end of February this year, these pricier products make up just 7% of the market, according to Adobe. In online groceries, the most expensive tier of products has gone from 24.5% of the market in January 2019 to 9% now. The cheapest tier of online groceries has grown in market share by 13 percentage points to nearly half the market, Adobe said. The most expensive tier of online toys has gone from 25% of the market four years ago to 13% today.

☆ Aldi to lift fresh produce purchase limits in Britain as shortages ease
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, March 11 (Reuters) - Discount supermarket Aldi said on Saturday it will lift all customer purchase limits in Britain on salad items such as tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers after weeks of industry shortages. Aldi's move, effective from Monday, follows the relaxation of limits by British rivals Lidl, Asda and Morrisons earlier in the week. "From Monday, Aldi will remove all purchasing restrictions on fresh produce," it said in a statement. Several major supermarkets last month imposed limits on how many salad and fruit items shoppers could buy at one time and the government warned that shortages could last until the end of March. Reporting by Sarah Young and James Davey; Editing by Mike HarrisonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Food is getting cheaper. But not for you
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

When food producers started raising prices a few years ago, they blamed their own costs, including higher ingredient prices. Many food companies are forecasting that they might slow down or pause price increases — but not lower them. But ingredients typically make up a small portion of overall food costs. Companies are maintaining elevated prices, or continuing to increase them, at a time when many Americans are already struggling to pay for food, especially as pandemic-era food stamp benefits expire. So people keep buying food at the grocery store, despite higher prices — giving producers an opportunity to convince retailers that those higher prices won’t drive customers away.

☆ UK salad shortage weighs on supermarket sales -NIQ
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Britons have been grappling with a shortage of key salad staples, particularly tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers. Market researcher NIQ, previously known as NielsenIQ, said total value sales in the fresh produce category grew just 1.1% over the four weeks, with a unit or volume decline of 5.4%. It said supermarkets struggled to meet demand for tomatoes, where unit sales fell 17.6% and for peppers, with unit sales down 16.8%. However, value sales for lettuce and cucumbers increased 13.7% and 31.8% respectively despite limited availability. It said sales growth at Tesco was 8.7%, ahead of Sainsbury's (SBRY.L) at 8.1%, Asda at 7.8% and Morrisons at 0.5%.

☆ Target, Macy's and Best Buy say consumers are strained
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Big retailers say consumer demand is starting to buckle from the strain of inflation and customers are making changes in how they shop. Target (TGT), Best Buy (BBY), Macy’s (M) and other chains say shoppers have pulled back on discretionary goods like clothing, electronics and home improvement. The slowdown could mean consumers will see more discounts on shelves as stores look for ways to entice shoppers and work down their inventory. “The consumer electronics industry continues to feel the effects of the broader macro environment and its impact on consumers,” Best Buy finance chief Matt Bilunas said. Best Buy predicts its comparable sales will decline 3% to 6% this year.

☆ UK grocery price inflation hits record 17.1%
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( James Davey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies Grocery inflation in Feb at highest level ever recordedMilk, eggs, margarine show fastest price risesShoppers face 811 pounds rise in annual grocery billLONDON, Feb 28 (Reuters) - British grocery inflation hit 17.1% in the four weeks to Feb. 19, another record high, dealing the latest blow to consumers struggling with a cost-of-living crisis, industry data showed on Tuesday. "This February marks a full year since monthly grocery inflation climbed above 4%. He said its research found that rising grocery prices are the second most important financial issue for the public behind energy costs. Kantar said UK grocery sales increased 8.1% over the 12 weeks to Feb. 19, masking a drop in volumes when accounting for inflation. UK grocers' market share and sales growth (%)Source: Kantar($1 = 0.8295 pounds)Reporting by James Davey; editing by Grant McCoolOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ British supermarkets are rationing fruit and vegetables as shortages bite
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Jenni Reid | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON — Britain's biggest supermarkets are limiting purchases of certain fruit and vegetables as supply shortages lead to empty shelves. It said the move was due to poor weather conditions overseas and was working with suppliers to "get things back to normal." The U.K. government has not stated Brexit as a factor, blaming weather conditions. EU member Ireland is also experiencing fruit and vegetable shortages. U.K. Food Minister Mark Spencer said Monday he had spoken to retailers about how they are responding to shortages and asked them to build preparedness for future incidents.

☆ UK government calls in supermarket bosses for salad crisis talks
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] An employee checks stock levels at the tomatoes section of a partially empty fruit and vegetable aisle at a Sainsbury's supermarket in London, Britain, February 26, 2023. Food and farming minister Mark Spencer will meet the bosses of Britain's major grocers later on Monday. Spencer said the crisis had shown how dependent Britain can be on certain trade routes for some types of food. Last week, Therese Coffey, minister for the environment, food and rural affairs, warned shortages could last up to another month. She has been widely mocked for saying Britons who can't get hold of salad vegetables might want to consider turnips instead.

☆ Britain's salad vegetable crisis its own fault, says former Sainsbury's boss
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The crisis has been exacerbated by less winter production in greenhouses in Britain and the Netherlands due to high energy costs. "We could have chosen to subsidise the energy this winter as we have done for other industries." Horticulture has been excluded from a government Energy and Trade Intensive Industries scheme (ETII) that provides help with energy costs. King said that most UK supermarkets still had "very good" supply of salad vegetables coming in but overall the country is short. "That's why supermarkets introduce fair purchase policies so that 'real' customers are able to buy the one or two that they really need."

☆ Premarket stocks: It's bulls vs. hawks on Wall Street
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

New York CNN —There’s a new tussle brewing in the animal kingdom of Wall Street: Hawks vs. Bulls. The question is, will the Fed be able to break through and convince Wall Street to finally give in to market pessimism? “Setting aside what financial market participants expected us to do, I saw a compelling economic case for a 50 basis-point increase,” she said at an event in Florida. Asda told CNN that it was temporarily limiting purchases of some items to three packs per customer. Morrisons told CNN that it had imposed a cap of two packs per customer on the same products.

☆ British supermarkets confront their German discounting demons
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( James Davey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

And the discounters' supermarket sweep still has a long way to run, industry executives say, with Aldi UK CEO Giles Hurley pledging Britain's lowest prices "no matter what". "Over the Christmas period alone shoppers switched 58 million pounds ($70 million)(of purchases) to Lidl from Tesco and Sainsbury's," Lidl GB CEO Ryan McDonnell told Reuters. Tesco and Sainsbury's are now matching Aldi prices on hundreds of key items and using customer loyalty schemes, while they have accepted a profit hit to keep prices down. Sector executives, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the further rise of Aldi and Lidl is inexorable. "Nobody's going to take Tesco out but at some point somebody might take Sainsbury's out," the sector veteran said.

☆ UK supermarkets Tesco, Aldi and Asda are rationing fruit and salad vegetables
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Asda told CNN that it was temporarily limiting purchases of some items to three packs per customer. These include tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and lettuce. Morrisons told CNN that it had imposed a cap of two packs per customer on tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and lettuce. Sainsbury’s (JSAIY), the United Kingdom’s second-largest food retailer, told CNN it had no plans to ration the sale of fruit and vegetables. The high-end supermarket chain told CNN that it was “monitoring the situation” but had no plans to introduce rationing.

☆ Walmart execs say own-brand sales are growing as customers cut spending, and suggest that other brands could put their prices down to compete
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

More shoppers are buying private-label brands at Walmart amid economic uncertainty, execs say. CEO Doug McMillon told CNBC that by keeping prices low, Walmart could push other brands to drop their prices too. "But there is definitely some acceleration to private brands in the last 90 days." In response, Walmart is focusing on its value proposition and making sure it has high-quality private brands, he said. McMillon told CNBC that by keeping its prices low, Walmart could push other brands to drop their prices.

☆ Asda retail boss Towle leaves after less than ten months
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Feb 20 (Reuters) - British supermarket group Asda said on Monday retail director Ken Towle is leaving the business less than ten months after starting the job. Asda also said on Monday it had appointed Aldi UK veteran David Hills as its new chief customer officer. Hills has been at the German-owned discounter since 2007 and is currently group director, marketing & communications. Asda said acting chief customer officer, Sam Dickson, will continue in the role until Hills arrives later this year and will then assume a strategy role for the Asda and George brands. Asda had a tough 2022 but in November reported a return to quarterly sales growth, while industry data has shown its sales growth matching that of Tesco and Sainsbury's.

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