All articles by Planet Retail – Page 9

  • News

    Eroski set to restructure debt

    2013-01-25T07:00:00Z

    Grocery retailer Eroski has reached an agreement with a group of 22 banks to restructure its debt, postponing to January 2017 the maturity of loans worth e2.1bn (£1.76bn).The new accord will allow Eroski to consolidate its long-term financial position, ensuring stability for the development of future projects.

  • News

    Walmart reveals plans to boost US sourcing

    2013-01-25T07:00:00Z

    Walmart has revealed plans to boost the sourcing of US products by $50bn (£31.5bn) over the next decade.The retailer will buy more US products in categories such as sporting goods, clothing basics, games and paper products, and aims to encourage US production in high-potential areas such as textiles, furniture and ...

  • News

    Metro reports net sales rise

    2013-01-24T07:00:00Z

    Metro reported a 1.2% rise in net sales to e66.7bn (£56bn) for the full year to December 31, 2012. Adjusted for the disposals of Makro UK and Saturn France, sales rose by 2.3%. EBIT fell to e2bn (£1.68bn) from e2.4bn (£2.01bn) in 2011.Sales at Metro Cash & Carry rose by ...

  • News

    Uniqlo to team up with Arvind Lifestyle Brands

    2013-01-24T07:00:00Z

    Fast Retailing’s Uniqlo banner is to team up with Arvind Lifestyle Brands to build a $1bn (£631m) business in India by the end of the decade.The Times of India reported that Fast Retailing is finalising an equity joint venture to further expansion in the growing Indian market. A deal is ...

  • News

    Aeon opens first MaxValu supermarket in China

    2013-01-24T07:00:00Z

    Japanese retailer Aeon has opened its first MaxValu supermarket in China. The new shop is in Guangzhou and Aeon plans to open 30 branches annually from 2014, to reach 200 by 2020.MaxValu supermarkets will primarily sell food and feature mostly local products, with only 5% imported from Japan.Aeon plans to ...

  • News

    Leroy Merlin DIY group to invest in new stores

    2013-01-23T07:00:00Z

    Adeo’s Leroy Merlin DIY group is to invest RUB15bn (£312.2m) to open 15 stores in the central regions of Russia.A pilot store will open in Tver by the end of January. The retailer will then plan the pace of openings in other cities.General manager Vincent Gentil told Russian newspaper Izvestia: ...

  • News

    Casino reports sales growth

    2013-01-23T07:00:00Z

    Casino has reported sales growth of 22.1% to e41.97bn (£35.25bn) in 2012, corresponding to a 4% organic rise (at constant consolidation and exchange rates).Fourth-quarter sales rose 3.2% to e12.9bn (£10.83bn). There was with an 8.5% rise for Casino’s international operations in Brazil, South America and Asia, compensating for a 2.2% ...

  • News

    Rakuten's Canadian Kobo ereader subsidiary exceeds market forecasts

    2013-01-23T07:00:00Z

    Rakuten’s Canadian Kobo ereader subsidiary said it exceeded market forecasts during the second half of 2012.It sold more than 4 million devices during the six-month period, bringing its total number of registered users to 12 million.The company said ereader sales jumped by almost 150% in December, driven by market entries ...

  • News

    Ahold records net sales increase

    2013-01-23T07:00:00Z

    Ahold recorded an 8.5% increase in net sales to E32.8bn (£27.51bn) for its full year 2012. At constant exchange rates, sales were up 3.5%.In the fourth quarter, net sales rose 7.5% to E7.8bn (£6.54bn), and US sales advanced 4.3% to $6.1bn (£3.84bn). Sales in the company’s domestic market climbed 7.7% ...

  • News

    Whole Foods Market chief executive John Mackey faces backlash from customers

    2013-01-22T16:21:00Z

    Whole Foods Market chief executive John Mackey faced a backlash from customers after he likened President Obama’s health care reforms to fascism.The comment was made during an interview to promote his new book when Mackey was asked about a 2009 article in the Wall Street Journal in which he had ...

  • News

    Marinopoulos teams up with online grocer CareMarket

    2013-01-18T07:00:00Z

    French retailer Carrefour’s Greek franchisee Marinopoulos has teamed with online grocer CareMarket in Greece.Carrefour’s private-label ranges will now be available through the website.Meanwhile, Carrefour Marinopoulos has launched an app for Apple and Android smartphones called Carrefour Greece, which enables customers to access discount vouchers and promotional leaflets.

  • News

    Best Buy reveals slight revenue decrease

    2013-01-18T07:00:00Z

    Consumer electronics specialist Best Buy has revealed revenues of $12.8bn (£7.97bn) for the nine weeks ending January 5. That compares with $12.9bn (£8.03bn) for the nine weeks ending December 31, 2011.Turnover was down slightly because of a comparable stores sales fall of 1.4%.The performance was seen as encouraging for Best ...

  • News

    Walmart Latin America makes new appointment

    2013-01-18T07:00:00Z

    Walmart has appointed Enrique Ostalé, president and chief executive of Walmart Chile, as executive vice-president, president and chief executive of Walmart Latin America.Based in Mexico City, Ostalé will assume his new role on March 1.

  • News

    Sales increase at Walmart-controlled Massmart

    2013-01-17T07:00:00Z

    Walmart-controlled Massmart’s preliminary sales increased 14.6% to R36.1bn (£2.57bn) in the first half to December 23, 2012. Like-for-like sales increased 7.3%.

  • News

    Fast Retailing report net profit increase

    2013-01-17T07:00:00Z

    Fast Retailing’s net profit rose 23% in its first quarter.For the September to November period, net profit increased to ¥38.4bn (£268.2m) from ¥31.15bn (£217.5m).Sales rose 17% on last year to ¥318.14bn (£2.22bn) and domestic sales increased 8% to ¥204.7bn (£1.43bn).The retailer’s sales from Uniqlo overseas rose 51.1% to ¥64.5bn (£450.4m) ...

  • News

    Carrefour's Indonesian franchisee to expand its private-label range

    2013-01-17T07:00:00Z

    French retailer Carrefour’s Indonesian franchisee, CT Corp, is to expand its private-label range in responseto demand.At present the retailer offers about 3,000 private-label SKUs but needs to increase its offer to meet the 5% to 10%demand increase recorded each year.Private label represents 7.5% of the product portfolio, and 60% of ...

  • News

    Magnit reports unaudited financial results

    2013-01-16T12:37:00Z

    Magnit has reported unaudited financial results. Consolidated net retail revenue increased to RUB448.49bn (£9.23bn) for the financial year 2012, up 33.6% on the previous year.Like-for-like sales grew by 8.5%, driven by 7.8% growth in basket size and a 0.6% increase in footfall.In contrast with 2011, hypermarkets outperformed supermarkets and convenience ...

  • News

    Spar reports net sales increase

    2013-01-16T12:35:00Z

    Spar has reported a 3.8% net sales increase for the year to December 31, 2012 to CHF1.04bn (£705.4m).Net sales for the 170 Spar, Eurospar and Spar Express stores increased by 2.3% to CHF567m (£384.6m), despite prices being lowered by 1.2%.This year the retailer will open five new Spar supermarkets.

  • News

    Casino to enter Serbian market

    2013-01-16T12:34:00Z

    Casino is to enter the Serbian market with seven supermarkets this year. The launch was enabled by an agreement between Casino and local partner Sodibal. The latter has also become official distributor of Casino products and supermarkets for the Balkan region.

  • News

    Jerónimo Martins reports preliminary sales growth

    2013-01-16T12:32:00Z

    Jerónimo Martins has reported preliminary sales growth of 11.5% to E10.9bn (£9.06bn) for the full year to December 31, 2012.Like-for-like sales increased ahead of the market, despite a difficult year in Portugal and a slowdown in the Polish economy.In Poland, Jerónimo Martins-owned Biedronka posted sales growth of 18% in local ...