Albertsons and Rite Aid announce merger; new company to have $83 billion in sales
Albertsons and Rite Aid announced yesterday that the companies plan to merge into a new publicly traded entity with an estimated $83 billion in annual sales. It is expected that the deal will close during the second half of the calendar year. Here are some of the details of the planned merger: Albertsons’ private […]
Amazon introduces home delivery from Whole Foods
On Thursday Amazon introduced free two-hour delivery of certain Whole Foods Market items between the hours of 8am and 10pm in select zip codes in Austin, Cincinnati, Dallas and Virginia Beach. Orders can be made via primenow.com or the Prime Now app. Amazon expects to expand the service across the U.S. later this year. According […]
Amazon Go: first cashier-less store opens in Seattle
Late last month Amazon opened its first Amazon Go store to the public. The store has few employees and no cashiers. Located at company headquarters in Seattle, customers with the Go app scan their smartphones and enter the store through a gate. Once inside they are free to roam the 1,800 square foot store and […]
Kroger to sell its 784 convenience stores
Kroger announced last week that it reached an agreement to sell its convenience store business for $2.15 billion to EG Group, a petroleum and convenience store retailer based in Great Britain. The deal includes 784 stores across 18 states. The EG Group plans to continue operating the stores under their current banners (Turkey Hill, Kwik […]
Walmart to increase hourly wages, expand parental benefits, close 63 Sam’s Club stores
Walmart said earlier this month that it plans to increase its starting wage for all hourly workers in the U.S. to $11 per hour , pay a one-time bonus of up to $1,000 to select employees, and expand benefits for parental leave. The increased starting rate is scheduled to become effective in February for all […]
Kohl’s plans to add groceries to select stores
According to reports, Kohl’s is looking for “well capitalized companies” that it can partner with to offer groceries and drive traffic to its stores. Kohl’s has streamlined their offerings in hundreds of stores in recent years, and several of those locations have excess space that can be used to showcase grocery items that draw customers […]
Kenny Family ShopRites giving bonuses as a result of tax reform
Kenny Family ShopRites, which operates six supermarkets in Delaware, announced earlier this month that as a result of the new tax reform legislation, it would give $150 to 1,000 of its non-management workers, and invest $150,000 in employee training and development. According to President and CEO Christopher Kenny, “Our ability to provide bonuses and training […]
Is Target next for Amazon?
A former analyst who followed Apple closely and was known for his accuracy in predicting their financial performance over the years made news recently by forecasting that Amazon will buy Target in 2018. “Target is the ideal offline partner for Amazon for two reasons, shared demographic and manageable but comprehensive store count,” said Loup Venture […]
Discount grocers are getting it right… here’s how
Earlier this month Supermarket News listed six reasons that discount grocers continue to grow, and provided the following background. Ten years ago, two-thirds of U.S. shoppers reported that supermarkets were their primary grocery channel, as per the Food Marketing Institute’s 2016 U.S. Grocery Shopping Trends Report. However, in 2016, only 49% of U.S. shoppers said that supermarkets […]
Report finds that grocery shoppers visit multiple stores
A report from Acosta found that 76% of shoppers visit multiple stores each week for groceries, and most of these consumers shop around to find cheaper products. In addition, 37% visit other stores to ensure they have fresh food, and 33% do so because they can’t find all the brands they like at one location. […]