July 15 – Spar International Plans to Enter Kosovo
With the opening of three stores in Kosovo, three more by the end of 2019 and seven additional stores by 2020, Spar International confirmed that it will work alongside the newly established consortium of wholesale and resale partners in the country. From European Supermarket Magazine
July 12 – David Jones Stores to be Reduced if Not Productive
South Africa’s Woolworths Holdings, parent company of Australia’s David Jones and Country Road, confirmed it will close retail space that is not productive. Woolworths Holdings said as online sales grow, the reduction of unproductive retail space remains a priority, and highlighted its ongoing efforts to downsize David Jones and Country Road Group’s retail space. From Inside Retail Australia
July 12 – Auchan Spain’s 2018 Turnover Rises 1.4%
Finishing the 2018 fiscal year with 366 stores, an increase of 10 from the year prior, Auchan Spain reported a 1.4% increase in turnover. From Retail Analysis
July 12 – France & UK Introduce Digital Tax
France plans to pass a digital services tax of 3% on companies that earn over EUR 750 million in digital revenue, of which EUR 25 million is earned in France. The UK is planning a similar tax. The tax would have a large impact on Amazon’s revenue in Europe. From Retail Detail
July 11 – Amazon Increases Efforts Against Counterfeit Merchandise
Amazon is expanding product sterlizliation service to Canada, India and some European countries to tackle counterfeit products through a process called Amazon Transparency. From Inside Retail Hong Kong
July 11 – South Africa’s Woolworths’ Shares Rise
After improving assortment at its outlets and seeing a rise of 1.5% in sales by its June year end, Woolworths’ South Africa saw shares jump 8%. From European Supermarket Magazine
July 9 – Lidl Spain Tests Own Payment Service
Lidl Spain is currently evaluating if customer payments integrated into its existing app would be a beneficial customer tool. From Internet Retailing
July 8 – Aldi Unifies Private Label
By the end of 2020 many of the Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd’s private label products will be unified under the same banner. The two stores will be offering the same non-food promotions by late 2020. From Retail Detail
July 4 – Lidl and Leclerc Continue to Grow Market Share in France
Lidl and Leclerc keep growing their market share in France’s very competitive French food market. The retailers’ success comes at the cost of France’s own Carrefour, Casino and Auchan. From Retail Detail
July 3 – Walmart Plans to Invest More in Chinese Logistics
Over the next ten years, Walmart plans to open ten additional logistics centers in China, investing 1 billion Euros. Currently the retailer is working on “dark stores” in China, stores that operate as warehouses for online orders only, in direct collaboration with JD.com. From Retail Detail
July 3 – UK’s Sainsburys Sales Fall
Despite cutting prices on more than 1000 every day grocery items to stimulate purchasing, Sainsburys announced a fall in total sales by 1.2%. From BBC.com
July 2 – Amazon to Hire 2,000 Additional UK Employees
To develop new technology ventures, Amazon plans to add 2,000 additional employees to it UK staff. By the end of 2020, Amazon’s UK workforce will reach nearly 30,000. From Bloomberg
July 2 – Alibaba Wants to Open More Physical Stores
With 150 stores in China’s largest 21 cities, Alibaba plans to use its subsidiary, Hema Fresh, to open more than 1,800 additional stores. From Altavia
July 2 – Canada’s Dollarama Invests in Latin America’s Dollarcity
With a focus of expanding into Latin America, Dollarama acquired 50.1% stake in Dollarcity, with a store count of 180, , including 44 in El Salvador, 54 in Guatemala and 82 in Colombia. From Financial Post
July 2 – France’s Conforama Closes 32 Stores
Home and housewares retailer, Conforama will close 32 stores by 2020 in accordance with its restructuring plan. From Newsy Today
July 2 – Alipay Expands in German
Germany’s largest drugstore chain, Dm-Drogerie Markt, will begin accepting mobile-payments from Alipay to facilitate transactions with the increasing number of Chinese travelers. Alipay will be accepted in Dm-Drogerie’s 1,970 stores. From Alizila
July 1 – France’s Carrefour to Offer Home Delivery Throughout France
Introduced in 2018, Carrefour offered home delivery from 52 stores, the retailer plans to add this service to 42 stores this year and by 2020 plans to offer delivery throughout France, to cities with more than 10,000 inhabitants. From Retail Detail
July 1 – Russia’s X5 and Hoff Form
Russian food retailer, X5 and Hoff, a major housewares retailer have announced a project to expand the non-food offering at Karusel stores using the shop-in-shop format to include four locations this summer as a pilot program. From X5 Retail Group
