Costco hits the spot in Seville
Last month, US-based Costco opened its first unit on continental Europe in Seville, Spain. The warehouse club retailer has proven sufficiently adventurous to venture into the country at a time when Spain is experiencing the nascent twitches of recovery following six years of the worst economic crisis in decades.
Source: Planet Retail
Sainsbury’s turns discounter
In a surprise move, Sainsbury’s has today unveiled a joint venture with Danish counterpart Dansk Supermarked, which will bring the latter’s Netto discount banner back to UK shores for the first time since it sold out to Asda in 2010.
Source: Planet Retail
WALMART India preps online B2B operation
Walmart India is to launch wholesale e-commerce operations in Hyderabad and Lucknow next month before expanding to other cities where it has a physical presence by early 2015, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Source: Planet Retail
AUCHAN Vietnam and India
As has been heavily hinted at for over a year now, Auchan is finally entering the Vietnamese market. In May last year, the French retailer met the Vietnamese Minister of Planning & Investment, and stated that Auchan intended to USD500 million over the next 10 years in the country.
However, as of August 13, 2014, the French retail giant is set to exit India, calling time on its two-year agreement with Landmark Group, which is probably the strongest signal yet that multinational retailers have lost patience with the market – or, more specifically, those who dictate how the market operates and who should be allowed to participate in it.
Source: Planet Retail
Mexico April Retail Sales: Grocery Catching Up to Department Stores, Walmex Hanging On
The Mexican Retail Association (ANTAD) published same-store sales growth for the month of April, with a consolidated 2.4% YoY growth. April was positively impacted by the Easter shift, which analysts estimate adds about 300 bps to Same Store Sales growth for grocery, but is not as relevant for department stores. Total Sales grew 6.8%. These results are major improvements over March when SSS fell 2.4% and overall sales grew just 2%.
Source: RNG RetailNetGroup
Carrefour India
On July 7, 2014, Carrefour announced its intention to close its five cash & carry outlets in India, ending its four-year presence in the country. The closure of Carrefour’s business in India will be completed by the end of September 2014.
Source: Planet Retail
Walmart’s Plans in India
Walmart is to take over exiting Carrefour stores in Delhi, Jaipur and Agra. The readymade stores would give time advantage of 18 months to Walmart. Rajneesh Kumar, vice-president of corporate affairs at Walmart, said: “Our planning team is diligently progressing on our growth strategy, as announced earlier, for opening an additional 50 cash and carry stores in the next four to five years in the country.”
Source: TradeBriefs Retail
