Spar has announced a €90m expansion drive in the Irish Republic, which will add 40 new stores to its network this year and create 500 more jobs.
The franchise owner, BWG, will invest in the expansion, but most of the funding will come from retailers in the group. The latest openings will bring the number of outlets trading under the Spar, Spar Express and EuroSpar brands to 470.
And business is booming. BWG chief executive Leo Crawford reported that Spar sales last year topped €1.1bn, up from €960m in 2004, and said he expected double-digit growth to continue in 2006.
As revealed in The Grocer (January 14, p46), BWG is to try out a new store format that will include in-store seating and fresh juice bars in a bid to stay ahead of competitors.
Further details have now been added and the participating stores, two in Dublin and one in Castlebar, County Mayo, will also offer a new food range in partnership with the Irish coffee chain, Insomnia, and the Canadian doughnut brand, Tim Hortons.
The food offering is being expanded in partnership with Cuisine de France and Donnelly Fruit and Veg under a new brand called Spar Signature.
In addition, BWG is to offer a ready-to-cook range of evening meals in accordance with huge changes in shopping trends. “Consumers are doing a lot more shopping on the day, for the day, and concentrating on cooking less at home,” said Crawford.
US number two supermarket chain Albertsons has been sold to a consortium of retailers and financial buyers for $17.4bn, subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. Members in the consortium include discount food retailer and wholesaler Supervalu, pharmacy chain CVS Corporation, and an investor group led by Cerberus Capital Management.
European food retailers are set to break the E1,000bn sales barrier before the end of the decade, research from Mintel has predicted. It found that European food and non food sales were currently an estimated E909bn and would reach E1,030bn by 2009.
US spice group McCormick & Company has blamed lower demand for its products in the US Gulf region affected by hurricane Katrina and pricing competition in France for a 3% decrease in fourth-quarter sales. It said sales for the year to November 30, 2005 increased 3% to $2.6bn.
Tissue and personal care manufacturer Kimberly-Clark’s fourth-quarter net profit for the three months to December 31 fell 17% to $371m on sales up 2.8% to $4bn. It blamed restructuring charges and an increase in raw material costs.
German discounter Lidl has revealed plans to enter the Romanian market. Lidl said it wanted to open stores in small towns with populations of 30,000 people and had set up centres in the country to co-ordinate land acquisitions.
Like-for-like supermarket sales fell 2.6% to Yen 14,175 trillion (£128.7bn) in Japan in 2005, the Japan Chain Stores Association has revealed.
n US chain buyout
n x1,000bn target
n Spice sales slow
n profit down 17%
n Lidl for romania
n sales fall in japan
The franchise owner, BWG, will invest in the expansion, but most of the funding will come from retailers in the group. The latest openings will bring the number of outlets trading under the Spar, Spar Express and EuroSpar brands to 470.
And business is booming. BWG chief executive Leo Crawford reported that Spar sales last year topped €1.1bn, up from €960m in 2004, and said he expected double-digit growth to continue in 2006.
As revealed in The Grocer (January 14, p46), BWG is to try out a new store format that will include in-store seating and fresh juice bars in a bid to stay ahead of competitors.
Further details have now been added and the participating stores, two in Dublin and one in Castlebar, County Mayo, will also offer a new food range in partnership with the Irish coffee chain, Insomnia, and the Canadian doughnut brand, Tim Hortons.
The food offering is being expanded in partnership with Cuisine de France and Donnelly Fruit and Veg under a new brand called Spar Signature.
In addition, BWG is to offer a ready-to-cook range of evening meals in accordance with huge changes in shopping trends. “Consumers are doing a lot more shopping on the day, for the day, and concentrating on cooking less at home,” said Crawford.
US number two supermarket chain Albertsons has been sold to a consortium of retailers and financial buyers for $17.4bn, subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. Members in the consortium include discount food retailer and wholesaler Supervalu, pharmacy chain CVS Corporation, and an investor group led by Cerberus Capital Management.
European food retailers are set to break the E1,000bn sales barrier before the end of the decade, research from Mintel has predicted. It found that European food and non food sales were currently an estimated E909bn and would reach E1,030bn by 2009.
US spice group McCormick & Company has blamed lower demand for its products in the US Gulf region affected by hurricane Katrina and pricing competition in France for a 3% decrease in fourth-quarter sales. It said sales for the year to November 30, 2005 increased 3% to $2.6bn.
Tissue and personal care manufacturer Kimberly-Clark’s fourth-quarter net profit for the three months to December 31 fell 17% to $371m on sales up 2.8% to $4bn. It blamed restructuring charges and an increase in raw material costs.
German discounter Lidl has revealed plans to enter the Romanian market. Lidl said it wanted to open stores in small towns with populations of 30,000 people and had set up centres in the country to co-ordinate land acquisitions.
Like-for-like supermarket sales fell 2.6% to Yen 14,175 trillion (£128.7bn) in Japan in 2005, the Japan Chain Stores Association has revealed.
n US chain buyout
n x1,000bn target
n Spice sales slow
n profit down 17%
n Lidl for romania
n sales fall in japan
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