US: BJ's Wholesale Club Myrtle Beach location set to open February 28
BJ's Wholesale Club announced that its club in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, will open on February 28, 2025. Additionally, BJ's Charitable Foundation has donated over $45,000 to support the food bank's Fresh Xpress program. Funding will provide five Myrtle Beach pantry sites with monthly fresh produce distributions for an entire year, giving 1,000 families in need increased access to healthy food.
Source: businesswire.com
US: Food Lion Feeds kicks off Orange Bag campaign to help nourish neighbors
Food Lion launched its annual three-weeklong Food Lion Feeds Orange Bag campaign in stores and online, inviting customers to directly support efforts of addressing food insecurity in their local communities.
Source: globenewswire.com
US: Fareway to purchase Brothers Market locations in Denver and Lisbon
Fareway Stores, Inc. has agreed to purchase two Brothers Market locations in Iowa, located at 1022 Skyler St. in Denver, Iowa, and 930 Commercial St. in Lisbon, Iowa. The transaction is expected to close in March 2025.
Source: fareway.com
US: Costco plans to open 6 new stores next month
Costco plans to open nine warehouses worldwide in 2025, with six of them opening in March. Store openings in the U.S. are planned for Brentwood, California; Highland, California; Prosper, Texas; Weatherford, Texas; Genesee County, Michigan; and Sharon, Massachusetts. A seventh U.S. store is scheduled to open in Stuart, Florida, in April.
Source: supermarketnews.com
UK: Ocado eyes ongoing expansion with Kroger
Automated ecommerce warehouse operator Ocado Group said it was upbeat about its opportunities for U.S. expansion in partnership with Kroger, although the company also said it could work with other retail partners if its expansion with Kroger moves too slowly, according to reports.
In other news, Reuters reported: Ocado shares dive as robotic roll-out disappoints.
Source: supermarketnews.com
Whole Foods Market expands international footprint with new U.K. location
Whole Foods Market reported: "Whole Foods Market is expanding internationally, announcing that a new store located at 120 King's Road, SW3, will open on March 25, 2025. The store is the first new U.K. location for Whole Foods Market since 2014 and will serve as a premium retailer for the historic and celebrated destination of London's King's Road in Chelsea. Features of the new King's Road store include: an array of certified organic and conventional fresh produce. Local items include Merit Mushrooms, Wye Valley asparagus from Mudwalls with a King's Road exclusive of Crate-to-Plate herbs and lettuce that use 95% less water than traditional farming, no pesticides or herbicides and no importing".
Source: media.wholefoodsmarket.com
A Carrefour premiere: Romanian grapes for the first time on the shelf in February
Carrefour Romania is bringing Romanian grapes to the store shelves in the country for the first time in February, in a storage pilot project with the producers of the "Cooperativa Grădina noastra" in Huși. Through the partnership with Cooperativa Grădina in Huși, an exclusive Carrefour program to support local producers, the Moldova black grape variety will be available between February 27 and March 3, within the stock limit, in an off-season effort, in hypermarket and market stores. The grapes will be marked on the shelf under the "Bunătăți de soi din România" label, which indicates local and ultra-local provenance.
Source: business-review.eu
Holland: Jumbo appoints Tom Heidman as interim CEO
Dutch supermarket chain Jumbo has found a temporary CEO to succeed Ton van Veen: Tom Heidman will take over ad interim, pending the appointment of a new CEO.
Source: retaildetail.eu
Lidl opens its biggest store yet in Northern Ireland after £9mln investment
Lidl has opened its biggest store in Northern Ireland in Coleraine after relocating in a £9m investment. The company is now trading from an even bigger site in Riverside Retail Park in the town, moving on from the spot where it had been located since 2005.
Source: belfasttelegraph.co.uk
Dino Polska posts full-year net profit growth of 7.2%
Polish food retail chain Dino reported a preliminary full-year net profit of 1.51bln zlotys (€362.4mln), up 7.2% year-on-year, as higher revenues offset rising operating costs and low consumer confidence. The result was slightly above analysts' expectations of 1.48bln zlotys (€355.2mln).
Source: esmmagazine.com
Ireland: Applegreen to open 20 new M&S Food stores this year
M&S reported: "Applegreen, one of Ireland's largest roadside hospitality brands, will open 20 new M&S Food stores this year, as part of a major expansion of its successful partnership with Marks & Spencer. Applegreen will make a multi-million-euro investment in the further roll out of the M&S Food partnership this year, as each of the 20 new "shop-in-shop" locations will undergo a bespoke upgrade to introduce the M&S brand. As part of the exclusive partnership agreement, each M&S Food at Applegreen outlet carries an extensive range of M&S products, including ready meal options for lunch and dinner, quality sandwiches, fresh fruit and salads, and fresh flowers".
Source: corporate.marksandspencer.com
Bulgaria: Supermarket boycott already bearing fruit, says agriculture minister
The effects of the protests against supermarkets are being felt, Agriculture Minister Georgi Tahov said in Plovdiv, where he was attending a national meeting of fruit and vegetable producers. He added that there had already been a drop in the price of basic foodstuffs.
Source: bnr.bg
Belgium: What can an eight-figure injection mean for troubled Cora?
Belgian hypermarket chain Cora has received another capital injection from parent company Louis Delhaize Group, to the tune of thirty million euros. Despite this, its future looks uncertain: potential buyers reportedly mainly interested in real estate.
Source: retaildetail.eu
Major retailer closing stores in South Africa
Retailer SPAR has taken a hit in the 18 weeks ended 31 January 2025, recording a 1.6% drop in turnover across its operations. The group is also continuing to close underperforming corporate stores in its portfolio, with the plan to close 13 grocery stores in its South Rand Region.
Source: businesstech.co.za
Sweden: Greenfood's Interim report fourth quarter 2024
Greenfood reported: "Greenfood closes 2024 with strong momentum, delivering another quarter of solid earnings growth. Net sales for the quarter totaled SEK 1,358.0mln (1,331.1), an increase of 2.0%, driven by Picadeli and Food Solutions, Greenfood's high value-add segments. Picadeli delivered another strong quarter, with net sales rising 14.3% to SEK 449.8mln and Adjusted EBITDA increasing 13.4% to SEK 42.2mln, primarily driven by more active stores than Q4 2023".
Source: greenfood.se