• CN: McDonald’s to open one outlet per day in China
  • MX: Walmart to increase its wind power supply in Mexico
  • UK: Tesco launches private label bicycle accessories range
  • LT: Maxima Lithuania H1 revenue growth by 3.8% YonY
  • MY: ChevronN Malaysia plans to open 20 Caltex service stations
  • US: Walmart opens first urban Express store in Chicago
  • DE: Edeka promotes economy private brand called PreisGenuss (‘Price Pleasure’)
  • CZ: Alza.cz expands product range with appliances
  • DE: Edeka’s discount operation Netto Marken-Discount has started mobile couponing
  • HK: AS Watson saw total revenue rise 17% to USD8.6 billion in H1
  • EU: Hornbach launched a pan-European marketing campaign called ‘Every change needs a beginning’
  • DE: Lidl is working on plans to source bananas directly from importers
  • AE: Spinneys Dubai to expand store network
  • DE: Burger King plans 100 coffee bars in Germany
  • UK: Tesco pilots instore free Wi-Fi
  • QA: Limited Brands Victoria’s Secret enters Qatar
  • FI: Starbucks to enter Finland early 2012
  • AE: Lulu Hypermarkets GroupTo Move Closer To Neighborhoods In GCC
  • RU: Mobile phone retailer Euroset has acquired 446 stores from rival Svyaznoy
  • US: Sephora has launched a free To Go app for both iPhone and iPad
  • CN: Costa Coffee is to expand in China with hopes to open 100 new stores in 2012.
  • US: Walmart Market enters New England
  • DE: Bauhaus to launch drive-through concept
  • IN: Amazon set to launch in India early 2012
  • CO: Casino Exito reports net income boost in Q2
  • UK: Tesco to launch £15 bundle Back to School deal
  • HU: Aldi Sud adds Coca Cola, Nestea, Dr Oetker in Hungary
  • PT: Jerónimo Martins posts strong Q2 profit rise
  • EU: Media-Saturn to cut 3,000 jobs across Europe
  • CZ: Tesco & Lidl face investigation in Czech Republic
  • IT: Inditex acquires the building of Milan flagship store
  • PL: Metro Group Makro and Bank Millennium launch pilot partnership
  • NL: Lidl in the Netherlands is launching a holiday booking website on 1 August
  • US: Toys ‘R’ Us has said its US stores will stock Amazon.com’s Kindle e-reader
  • BR: Casino will look to control Brazilian ops
  • DE: Department store chain Galeria Kaufhof is already in the due diligence phase
  • US: OfficeMax will retail two of Barnes & Noble’s Nook e-readers
  • FR: McDonald’s France plans to add freshly baked baguettes to its menu in 1st half of 2012
  • Carrefour has totally reinvented shopping for its customers, and the Carrefour planet concept offers them a new shopping experience centered around making purchases in comfort, friendliness and fun. The new stores boast a festive atmosphere of discovery, specialist offers organized into key areas, lower prices, brand new services and new technologies.

    In a friendly and animated atmosphere, Carrefour planet has a range of products that has been completely rethought out and is better suited to the expectations of its customers, organized into key areas:

    THE MARKET AREA, with a varied range of extremely fresh products, tastings held on a regular basis, cooking lessons, an expanded delicatessen area, freshly cut fruit and vegetables or sushi being prepared.

    THE ORGANIC AREA, with a wide variety of Organic products, Carrefour brands as well as other specialist brands, tastings held on a regular basis and discounted prices so that everybody can enjoy organic products…

    THE FROZEN FOOD AREA, with an extremely wide range of frozen products, reworked customer flows with an offering that is organized into different areas that follow the order of a traditional meal, closed freezers for greater comfort and cooking demonstrations.

    THE BEAUTY AREA, in an environment that has been given a complete makeover for the well-being of its customers. They can purchase their beauty products at a leisurely pace and get expert advice, as well as enjoying services such as rapid make-up applications and express hairstyling. Among the other innovations is a virtual mirror which customers can use to test make-up products ‘live’ at interactive terminals.

    THE FASHION AREA, which has been re-organized to include the whole world of fashion, showcase new collections and provide a new range of services, including free advice and alterations.

    THE BABY AREA, which brings together everything new parents need under one roof, from food products to nappies, as well as pushchairs, clothing and furniture. Mothers are pampered and can enjoy access to a free birth list service and have their more bulky shopping carried for free, as well as benefit from the advice of a pediatric specialist.

    THE HOUSE AREA, is split into 4 sections (“Kitchen and Table”, “Home Deco”, “Practical Home” and ”Home Accessories“), with a whole new selection and many color-coded ranges.

    THE LEISURE – MULTIMEDIA AREA , brings together the Culture and multimedia areas, organized according to brand. All the latest technologies are showcased, including 3-D TV, touchscreen tablet computers and e-books. A whole new digital store has been created offering customers the opportunity to sign up for digital subscriptions and services, as well as a completely dedicated Apple area.

    For certain categories, exclusive partnerships with major brands mean that customers can discover a new offer: for example, Virgin will have a wide selection of cultural products in the Vénissieux store, Réserves Naturelles will have its own dedicated area in the beauty world for make-up, accessories and costume jewelery.

    Because the comfort of customers as they do their shopping is a priority for the new banner, specialist advisers will be available in each area to welcome and support customers as they make their choices.

    Carrefour Planet stores have been implemented so far in France, Spain, Italy & Greece

    Late Friday afternoon, an employee of the Whole Foods Market in Toronto sent this epic resignation letter to the entire company.

    The resignation letter claims that the food chain ignores its own business philosophy, amongst other things.

    In a statement, a spokesman for the health food retailer said: “We disagree with this former Team Member’s statements, and we wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.”

    “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”

    Dear Whole Foods Market,

    My experience at Whole Foods was like an increasingly sped up fall down a really long hill. That got rockier with every metre. And eventually, just really spiky … With fire, acid and Nickleback music. I was hired about five or six years ago. I appreciated and respected what the company said it’s philosophies were at that time. The “core values” essentially. However, it didn’t take long to realize what complete and utter bullshit they are:

    Oh, you don’t recycle properly? (Caring about our communities and our environment)

    Oh, you throw out enough food to feed a lot of hungry university students. (Caring about our communities and our environment)

    Oh, you’re asking me to put latex gloves on the sales floor so customers can throw a pair out for every handful of gummy bears they take? (Caring about our communities and our environment)

    Oh, you’ve installed massive television screens all over the store, sucking up energy and polluting the environment with tacky advertisements. (Caring about our communities and our environment, Supporting team member happiness and excellence)

    Oh, you waste an absurd amount of energy, ink and paper in your offices for useless bureaucratic nonsense. (Caring about our communities and our environment, Supporting team member happiness and excellence, )

    Oh, you just write off 10-20% of the product that you buy for your bulk department because the bins look nice. (Caring about our communities and our environment).

    Oh, you sometimes intentionally order too much just to guarantee a full shelf, knowing full well the product will most likely be thrown out? (Caring about our communities and our environment)

    Oh, you don’t actually audit or evaluate each product you sell? (Caring about our communities and our environment, We sell the highest quality natural and organic products available)

    Oh, you buy poorly made, ugly t-shirts for your employees that will just be thrown in the trash and pretend they’re gifts when they’re really just advertising tools? (Supporting team member happiness and excellence, Caring about our communities and our environment)

    Read Full Letter Here

    In May 2000, a small group of enthusiastic, experienced and ambitious merchants, specialized in personal care and home care, decided to join forces and develop their own organizational concept which led to the creation of Drogerie Koliber in Poland (Koliber stands for Hummingbird).

    After six months, in November 2000, the Group had already 15 members, which allowed the association to be created.

    The sales activities started on 21 March 2002 by issuing the first newspaper advertising, which still appears regularly at the end of each month.

    During the years 2002-2005, the potential of the Association grew both quantitatively and qualitatively so that during the Assembly Election Reporting and that received on 25 May 2005, a resolution was passed to establish a capital company.

    Koliber increased the number of outlets during 2010-2011. Currently the chain has 74 stores, and since
    Emperia acquired from individuals who are shareholder, 100% of the share capital and entitling to 100% of the votes at the general meeting of shareholders, 27 new stores joined the list.

    Koliber drugstores also work actively to strengthen and increase their brand awareness among Polish consumers.

    You can read more about other Polish drugstores in this old post on my blog.


    Research firm Deloitte’s report on the retail sector in Turkey shows the potential of the market. Indicating that the Turkish retail sector grew to a size of $187 billion in 2010, the report predicts that this figure will go up to $250 billion in 2014.

    The food retail sector, which includes such global giants as Metro, Carrefour and Tesco, accounted for the largest slice of this pie at $96 billion; it was followed by the retail markets for housewares at $26.5 billion and technology at $7.3 billion.

    According to the report, non-food retail delivered a solid performance by growing 16% over 2009, with ready-to-wear clothing retail growing by 27%. The report emphasizes that the subcategories of the retail sector exhibited strong performances too.

    The housewares market is stated to have grown to $26.5 billion in 2010. Among the main players are Koctas, Bauhaus, Ikea and Praktiker in the field of home improvement; Arcelik, MediaMarkt and Vestel in home appliances, and Zara Home, Esse, Lines, Mudo Concept and Pasabahce in home textiles. The textile retail market, which includes such players as Koton, LCW and Ipekyol grew to a volume $24.3 billion.

    The size of e-commerce market is stated to be $9.6 billion.

    The electronics retail market, in which main actors are such firms as MediaMarkt, Darty and Teknosa, is indicated to have reached $7.3 billion.

    Source: Deloitte, The Turkish Perspective

  • US: Amazon.com offers free international shipping at Endless.com
  • CN: McDonald’s China increases prices
  • TH: Tesco Thailand launches price cut campaign
  • AT: Rewe Group reduces plastic packaging on organic lines
  • UK: Tesco launches premium beauty site Nutribeautyproducts.com
  • RU: Online retailer Utinet.ru raises 390 mln rbls in IPO
  • DE: Lekkerland renews contract with Total
  • AT: Spar pilots neighbourhood store format
  • ES: Inditex to launch all brands online
  • TH: Tesco introduces Extra format to Thai market
  • BA: McDonald’s opens first restaurant in Bosnia
  • NL: Sligro posts 20.3% net profit increase in H1
  • CZ: Rossmann in Czechia saw its 2010 sales rise 4.2% to USD121 million
  • DE: Praktiker’s CEO Wolfgang Werner is to step down
  • RO: Flanco will invest EUR5 million (USD7 million) in opening 2 new stores
  • RU: Auchan plans to more than triple its store count (now 50) in Russia within 5 years
  • TH: Central Retail plans to triple its Tops Daily convenience stores to 150-160 stores
  • CH: Migros LeShop receives 10% of online orders via mobiles
  • IN: Tata Trent to open Inditex Massimo Dutti in India
  • JP: McDonald’s opens flagship outlet in Japan
  • RO: Auchan wants to double the number of stores in Romania by 2014
  • IT: Carrefour inaugurates first Carrefour planet store in Italy
  • DE: Aldi Süd appoints new Heads of Buying
  • NL: Sligro will supply the Texaco-branded forecourt stores in the Netherlands