more supermarket news & analysis – Page 730
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Comment & Opinion
Peter Marks' very long game
Peter Marks, boss of The Co-operative Group, declared this morning that trading conditions were “the worst” he had seen “in over 40 years of retailing”.
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Comment & Opinion
It's cheese, James, but not as we know it
Few product launches whip up the media storm swirling around Alex James and his new line of cheeses, with surely only some of the attention due to his former life as bassist for Blur.
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News
M&S official fashion partner of The X Factor
Marks and Spencer is bidding to appeal to a wider audience in its role as official fashion partner of TV Show The X Factor. The retail giant has signed a deal with Syco TV, FremantleMedia Enterprises and ITV, to become the exclusive fashion...
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NewsSainsbury’s aims for simplicity with new Brand Match scheme
Sainsbury’s launched its own Brand Match initiative this week and had a swipe at rival schemes for being over-complicated. Brand Match, launched as a trial in Sainsbury’s 12 Northern Ireland stores, pledges to match Tesco and Asda on…
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News
Co-op Group’s electrical offer gets a push
The Co-operative Group is placing small electrical goods alongside its food offer for the first time. Trials are being conducted at the retailer’s Leek, Holmfirth, Mablethorpe, Maryport and Irlams O’ Th’ Height stores. ‘Tech…
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NewsJames offers mainstream cheese range
In a departure from his artisan cheese credentials, Blur bassist Alex James has launched a mainstream range of cheeses exclusively into Asda stores. The Alex James Presents... range comprises four flavoured Cheddar wedges including one...
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NewsAsda wows with its Butcher’s Selection
Asda is set to roll out its Butcher's Selection range to meat joints after the initial launch in beef steaks led to a 50% spike in sales. Butcher's Selection steaks which are matured for 15 days and trimmed of excess fat were introduced...
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News
Production starts at Co-op’s milk group
The Co-operative's long-awaited milk group has finally launched. The Co-op's new dairy group is being operated by Robert Wiseman Dairies and comprises 230 British dairy farms, which supply liquid milk into the Co-op's stores. Each...
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News
Asda to take on 7,000 temps this Christmas
Asda is hoping to take on 7,000 extra seasonal staff for the Christmas period in a £5m recruitment drive that kicks off next month. It was looking for extra shop floor staff, home delivery workers and customer service personnel,...
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Grocer 33Morrisons, Paignton
The Grocer 33 is a weekly mystery shopping survey, tracking price, service and availability at the five leading grocery retailers: Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose. Each week the winning store manager is interviewed by The Grocer.
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NewsNorwich’s co-op wine shop
East of England Co-operative Society has opened its first wine merchants. Le Château, which opened last week in Norwich, is “a modern concept store coupled with the high-quality service of a traditional wine merchants”. As well as beers,…
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NewsBag-in-box wines have shrunk in size and price
Wine suppliers and retailers are reducing the size of their wine boxes in a bid to hit lower price points. Value sales of Sainsbury's bag-in-box wines have increased 5% in the five weeks since the end of May, when it shifted all of its...
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NewsDon Simon’s Disney smoothies hit Asda
Don Simon is taking on Innocent with a new range of Disney-branded smoothies for kids. A Cars 2 tropical smoothie and a Disney Princess strawberry and raspberry smoothie launches next week in Asda and is due to roll out to other...
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NewsMorrisons is hit by Twitter trickery in Tunbridge Wells
Morrisons was the unwitting victim of a Twitter hoax aimed at residents of Tunbridge Wells this week. CEO Dalton Philips has written to residents in the town after fake Twitter account @Morrisons_PLC taunted residents over a former…
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NewsWaitrose takes Duchy Originals to Spain
Waitrose has signed a deal to take Duchy Originals to the Continent. It will supply Spanish department store El Corte Inglés with the upmarket range, which Waitrose acquired in 2009.
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News
Herring roe is new beans on toast, says Waitrose
Beans on toast are taking a back seat as shoppers roll back the years with an old-fashioned alternative: herring roe. Sales of the fish at Waitrose are up 39% over the equivalent period last year.
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NewsClarke ponders Iceland move as Asda ups small store target
Andy Clarke has said Asda could move for some of Iceland’s estate – but appeared to rule out a swoop for the whole chain. “The estate does not fit our model,” Clarke said yesterday at a former Netto store now converted to the Asda fascia.
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NewsBiodegradable bags now ‘too weak’ for Tesco
Tesco has quietly ditched biodegradable carrier bags, citing customer concerns about the bags’ strength. The supermarket said it was switching from biodegradable bags to bags containing 15% recycled material. The changeover began earlier this year.
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NewsAsda pins hopes on smaller stores after slender Q2 improvement
Like-for-like sales at Asda grew by 0.5% in the second quarter, excluding VAT, the supermarket revealed today. US parent Walmart said conditions remained challenging and vowed to accelerate its plans to open smaller-format stores to speed up growth.
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News
Co-op Group’s new wind farm
The Co-operative Group has started work on an £18.5m wind farm in Cambridgeshire as part of a plan to generate 25% of its electricity from its renewable energy projects by 2017.
Seven new turbines are to be added at the society’s White…