Convenience and Wholesale news – Page 249
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C-stores: Smile! It's a new convenience format
Exclusive Julian Hunt A new brand is being developed in the convenience and CTN sectors by Newshops as part of its ambition to be seen as the "best local retailer". Work on Smile only started in January. But the brand has already appeared at four...
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Only way to survive in the future?
Sir; re Budgens opening its first Budgens Local fascia store. At first I thought the idea of small store retailers jumping into bed with their supermarket rivals was one of the most stupid ideas I have ever heard. I mean, who would want to be a...
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Supermarket c-stores: Budgens plans 50 Local stores in next
The new Budgens Local fascia was launched officially this week at a former Alldays store in Aylesbury. The latest Budgens format and supply deal is aimed at independent retailers with stores over 1,500 sq ft. (The Grocer, July 8). Norman Kears,...
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Convenience stores: Balfour buying stores this year
The new team in charge of the Balfour chain of stores is hitting the acquisitions trail earlier than planned. When the former One Stop management team bought the 120 store chain in March it believed its first year would be spent reshaping the...
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C-store multiples: Alldays valued at a fraction of 1998's £2
It may have almost 800 c-stores, and a national presence, but investors now think Alldays is worth less than £11m. The heavily indebted c-store chain has seen its share price continue to trickle downwards in the past week, slipping below the 24p...
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Internet shopping: C-stores sign up to M-box
Hi-tech delivery service M-box has announced retail partnerships with c-store groups representing 7,400 outlets. Signings include national groups Spar, Londis and Costcutter along with regional chains Jacksons, Bells, Morning Noon and Night,...
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Store technology: E-top-ups plugged in
The first terminals to accept the new breed of mobile phone electronic top-up swipe cards from Vodafone have entered service. A number of Spar, Londis and Alldays stores in East Anglia now offer a service crediting phones with airtime without...
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BWG: Kealy moving to Haslett
Exclusive John Wood Appleby Westward's highly rated managing director Peter Kealy is leaving the Spar wholesaler to head Northern Ireland's Mace wholesaler J&J Haslett. It is an in-house move for Kealy, as both companies are owned by the Dublin...
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Convenience market: Home shopping priority for flourishing B
Budgens is in expansive mood, with plans to open 20 new outlets in the coming year, extend its trials of home shopping, and complete its store conversion programme by 2002. Chief executive Martin Hyson, who took over earlier this year when John von...
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Mace: Aberness buys three more stores
Aberness Foods, the Mace wholesaler for Scotland, has bought three more shops which means it now runs an estate of 30 company owned stores. Two of the stores are in Dundee and the third is in Ardersier, north of Inverness. Retail director...
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News analysis: Budgens Local
Little buds sprout High quality fresh food could prove a strong selling point as Budgens looks to pull stores into its symbol group says John Wood While some of the major multiples have dabbled with supplying independent retailers, Budgens is the...
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Gloria and the Mace hymn sheet
Sir; It was with amusement that I read last week's letter from Gloria Williams who described herself as a Mace retailer'. Maybe I am just a cynical old sales manager, but the letter read like a Mace head office mission statement from Mike Bowen...
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Happy with symbols
Sir; re the criticism of symbol groups and the support for Booker in A symbol of excess' (The Grocer, Letters, June 17, p17). There are surely hidden costs in buying from cash and carry. The turnover of our store would mean we would have to employ...
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C-store chains: Debt ridden Alldays puts brave face on RDC c
Alldays posted another huge loss in its interims which were released this week. For the 26 weeks to April 30 Alldays made an operating profit of £0.6m, compared with a loss of £1.8m last time. But interest charges of £5.7m and exceptionals of...
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In the city: Many Booker shareholders didn't like the idea o
There was little surprise this week when Iceland announced that it had secured enough acceptances from Booker shareholders for the "merger" of the two to go ahead. However, there were obviously a fair number of Booker's shareholders who were willing...
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Annoyed by reps from Londis
Sir; Two items in your June 17 issue particularly caught my eye. On the one hand, there was the item on p11 entitled Londis retailers line up in Scotland', and on the other, the letter on p17 A symbol of excess'. I am an unaffiliated independent...
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Multiples: Budgens goes ripe and ready
Budgens has moved into ripe and ready following pioneers such as Marks and Spencer and Sainsbury which have had such ranges on their shelves for more than five years. Dip Chotal, produce marketing manager, said the 19 own label range would also...
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Symbol groups: Londis retailers line up in Scotland
More than 30 Scottish retailers have applied for membership of Londis during its first month of operating north of the border. Sales director Terry Bedford said the majority of inquiries came from cash and carry customers, and many Asian retailers...
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Symbol groups: Bowen giving up top job at Mace
Mike Bowen has announced he will give up his role as chief executive of Mace Marketing Services at the end of the year. The move coincides with the closure of the Mace Marketing office in Gerrards Cross, Hertfordshire, which has been winding down...
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Convenience stores: Bouncing back
If you look at the convenience sector in its true context, the pool of funds the various players are fighting for is far larger than many believe. Some £70bn in total. A large proprotion of "convenience" sales go through supermarkets and...