US: Walmart has opened its first Walmart Express store, in Chicago. The 10,000 sq ft store is one tenth of the size of the retailer's standard US stores. Four more are expected to open in Chicago later in the year, as well as three Walmart Market stores. The retailer started testing the Express format in rural parts of Arkansas and North Carolina last month.
France: LVMH has toasted a 13% jump in like-for-like sales at its wine and spirits division in the first half of the year. The luxury goods giant said Champagne sales had grown rapidly over the past six months, with the highest-quality products performing best. The success of premium products helped LVMH translate higher sales into a big increase in profits. The French group said profits from recurring operations in wines and spirits increased 27%.
Indonesia: Nestlé has launched The Cocoa Plan in Indonesia. Nestlé will invest more than CHF3.4m over four years to train farmers, provide plant expertise and support supply chain transparency in a bid to increase cocoa productivity at farmer level by 30% by 2015. Indonesia is the third-largest cocoa producer in the world.
Serbia: Delhaize Group has completed its 932.5m acquisition of Serbian food retailer Delta Maxi making it the leading retailer in Southeastern Europe. Delta Maxi has 450 stores in Serbia, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Albania. "We can now effectively integrate Delta Maxi into our Delhaize Group organisation," said Pierre-Olivier Beckers, president and CEO of Delhaize Group.
Australia: Shares in Wesfarmers hit a one-year low this week as the conglomerate posted disappointing supermarket sales growth. Fourth-quarter sales for its Coles supermarkets and liquor stores rose 5.2%, but analysts had forecast growth of around 6% to 7%. "Coles has developed a series of efficiency programmes, creating a savings pool that we have used to re-invest in the form of lower prices, improved quality and better stores," said managing director Ian McLeod.
France: LVMH has toasted a 13% jump in like-for-like sales at its wine and spirits division in the first half of the year. The luxury goods giant said Champagne sales had grown rapidly over the past six months, with the highest-quality products performing best. The success of premium products helped LVMH translate higher sales into a big increase in profits. The French group said profits from recurring operations in wines and spirits increased 27%.
Indonesia: Nestlé has launched The Cocoa Plan in Indonesia. Nestlé will invest more than CHF3.4m over four years to train farmers, provide plant expertise and support supply chain transparency in a bid to increase cocoa productivity at farmer level by 30% by 2015. Indonesia is the third-largest cocoa producer in the world.
Serbia: Delhaize Group has completed its 932.5m acquisition of Serbian food retailer Delta Maxi making it the leading retailer in Southeastern Europe. Delta Maxi has 450 stores in Serbia, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Albania. "We can now effectively integrate Delta Maxi into our Delhaize Group organisation," said Pierre-Olivier Beckers, president and CEO of Delhaize Group.
Australia: Shares in Wesfarmers hit a one-year low this week as the conglomerate posted disappointing supermarket sales growth. Fourth-quarter sales for its Coles supermarkets and liquor stores rose 5.2%, but analysts had forecast growth of around 6% to 7%. "Coles has developed a series of efficiency programmes, creating a savings pool that we have used to re-invest in the form of lower prices, improved quality and better stores," said managing director Ian McLeod.
No comments yet