According to the Grocer, Aldi Süd has begun rolling out the use of baskets to all of its UK stores. The discounter had previously been against the idea, as it increases costs, but has reacted to increasing demand for an alternative to trolleys on its Facebook page.

ParknShop, a supermarket operator under AS Watson, plans to close its only 2 premium supermarkets in Shanghai.

• The ParknShop City store which was remodeled in 2010 will be closed on 13^th May 2012.
• The ParknShop Taste store opened on 18^th January 2011 will also be closed.
• According to Huixiang Liao, Public Relations Manager of ParknShop China, the company will not quit Shanghai market.

ParknShop operates 46 stores in mainland China by the end of 2011.

ASDA has slashed the price of unleaded fuel across its 196 filling stations nationwide, effective 16 May 2012. A litre of unleaded petrol and diesel will now cost 132.7 pence and 137.7 pence, respectively. The move, which is driven by a drop in global oil prices, has resulted in a cumulative price drop of 8 pence over the last month.

In a move to create more space and better display, George at ASDA is trialing a new look in its shop-in-shop formats by having a "shop window" in its supermarkets.

• The retailer will use a section of the store to display models and  plasma screens to display fashion shows and product designs.
• The stores will also have improved lighting and new flooring.
• Additionally, through new and improved navigation, shoppers will be able to browse the latest range in detail as well as locate functional clothing easily.
• ASDA trialed the new format at its Bolton store six months ago and extended it to Fosse Park, Leicester. The retailer plans to roll out the format in the rest of its stores by end of 2012.  

Auchan has opened its first organic store "Cœur de Nature", in Bretigny-sur-Orge.

• The retailer has invested EUR 1.8 million in the project and expects annual sales to be around EUR 4.2 million.
• The store offers a total of 13,000 SKUs with 7,000 non-food SKUs and 2,000 Private Label SKUs.. 

Best Buy has elected a successor to Richard Schulze, the retailer’s founder, as Chairman of the company, effective at the end of the company's annual meeting on June 21, 2012. Director Hatim Tyabji, who has been Chairman and CEO of global mobile traffic and video management firm Bytemobile, Inc., since 2001, will replace Schulze. Tyabji is also Chairman of Jasper Wireless, Inc., which provides cloud-based management services.

Schulze will become Founder and Chairman Emeritus, an honorary position on the board, and will serve out his term as director through June 2013.

At the same time as this announcement, Best Buy also released the conclusions of its investigation into the personal conduct of former CEO Brian Dunn, who resigned in April. The investigation determined that Dunn violated Best Buy policy by engaging in a close personal relationship with a female employee that negatively impacted the work environment, though no company funds were misused in the process. The investigation also found that the Chairman of the Board at the time failed to notify the audit committee of the Board of Directors when he found out about the allegations in December 2011.

As a result of these findings, Best Buy says it will review and possibly strengthen Best Buy's relevant corporate policies and procedures.

Dia’s net sales for the first quarter (Q1) 2012 increased by 6.2% to EUR 2,317.3 million. Gross Sales were up 7.4% to EUR 2,819.3 million. Overall the Like-For-Like (LFL) sales improved by 5.1% in the quarter and the expansion of the store network accounted for 3.2% of Gross sales.

Iberia (Spain and Portugal)

• Gross sales grew by EUR 85.3 million to EUR 1,394.5 million.
• LFL sales increased by 4.2%, store openings accounted for 2.4% of the growth.

Emerging markets (Turkey, Brazil, Argentina, and China)

• Gross sales grew by EUR 142.6 million to EUR 802.6 million.
• LFL sales increased by 16.1%, store openings accounted for 9.1% of the growth. Currency had a negative impact (-3.6% of sales over Q1).

France

• Gross sales decreased by EUR 33.4 million to EUR 622.2 million.
• LFL sales decreased by 4.3%, store closures accounted for 0.8% of the decrease in Gross Sales.

Dia remains confident it will meet its targets for 2012.

Dixy has launched an advertising campaign to celebrate the opening of its 1000th neighborhood store. 

• The campaign with the strapline, “Simply. Nearby. Neighborly”, will be broadcast on Russian television channels, radio, and billboards.
• During the campaign, Dixy will offer weekly deals on products and discounts of up to 50%.

China’s top 100 retailers grew sales revenue 20.9% to RMB 2 trillion in 2011.

• The growth was 90 basis points lower than growth in 2010
• The top 100 retailers grew revenue faster than China’s total retail sales, which registered 17.1% growth
• The top three retailers were Suning Appliance, GOME Electrical Appliances and Bailian Group

In a move to offer shoppers a wider assortment and better value pricing, Magnit has launched a new format, "Magnit Family" hypermarkets.

• The stores, with selling area of 1,500 square meters (sq m), will include an assortment of more than 6,000 stock keeping units (SKUs), limited non-food assortment, an expanded fresh zone, and new technologies.
• The stores will primarily be located in the premises of shopping and entertainment malls.
• The retailer plans to increase the store count under this format organically and through reformatting of big convenience stores.
  • It plans to open 13-15 stores by the end of 2012, including reformatting 4-5 convenience stores and opening 4-5 new stores.
  • Magnit plans to operate 100-150 stores under the new format in the long-term.
• To date, there are five stores operating under this format.

The Facebook fan page of the online electronic retailer, gives subscribed fans special discounts on selected items, which can be purchased via the built-in store.

Effective 16 May 2012, Morrisons has slashed the price of unleaded fuel and diesel by 2 pence per litre across its 300 petrol stations nationwideAccording to the retailer, the move follows a continuous drop in oil prices.

In a move to increase the presence of its own-label products, Ocado has launched an own-label shop-in-shop.

• According to Retail Week, the retailer plans to include 450 of its 600 own-label products, including food, in ten categories including meat, poultry, fresh produce, eggs, bakery, household, and flowers. Ocado also plans to increase the range further during 2012.
• Currently, Ocado runs a Wine Cellar shop-in-shop and a special section for gardening products.

Reitan Group has appointed Catherine Strange as Marketing and Sales Director of Rema 1000, effective 1 August 2012.

• In 2007, Strange served as Purchase and Marketing Director at Reitan Service Handel and was responsible for Narvesen and 7-Eleven posting strong results.
• In 2000, she was hired by Exxon Mobil in Brussels and was responsible for the implementation of the "On the Run" store concept in Europe.
• Strange joined Esso Norway in 1991 and was responsible for the development of retail concepts and marketing communications. In 1998, she worked in Marketing Communications for Esso, UK.

Rewe Group has opened its second Rewe to Go store in Dusseldorf, Germany. The new convenience format was first launched in Cologne, in 2011.

Rewe are currently in negotiations to open stores in train stations in Dortmund and Cologne, Germany.

German grocer, Rewe Group has opened its tenth click and collect store in Germany. The new store is located in Wiesloch, Baden-Württemberg.

Rewe, in terms of the click and collect, continues to stay ahead of its competitors: Edeka Südwest is currently trialing two stores and Metro owned Real hypermarkets started its drive in service in 2010.

RT Mart opened its first store in Nanchong city of Sichuan province. The store is the largest hypermarket in the city with 20,000 square meters of selling space.

RT Mart planed to develop 2 stores in Nanchong. The construction plan for another store in the city is still unknown.

As of December 31, 2011, RT-Mart had 185 stores in China. The company aimed to open 50 stores in 2012.

Sainsbury's has launched a mobile version of its grocery shopping website, available at sainsburys.co.uk.

• Shoppers will be able to browse and buy more than 20,000 grocery products from their phones and handheld devices across categories such as everyday food items, wines and champagne, and household staples like bread and butter.
  • The new application will enable shoppers to place orders on sainsburys.co.uk for delivery or collection from store.
  • Shoppers will also receive personalized offers and collect Nectar points while shopping on the move.
  • The new app will be available for free to iPhone, Android, and Nokia users.
  • Shoppers will also be able to locate Sainsbury's stores via the GPS technology of the app.
• According to the retailer it plans to apply the feedback and knowledge gained by the launch of the non-food mobile app in July 2011.

According to LZ.net, Schwarz Group-owned Kaufland has appointed Oliver Gschwendtner as the new Head of Buying for the Czech Republic. Gschwendtner replaces Andreas Schopper, who is now leading Kaufland’s international buying team.

Seven-Eleven Japan Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd announced to form joint venture (JV) company with Zhongdi Group Co., Ltd in Shandong province to develop 7-eleven stores.

• The JV company will be set up in Qingdao by November 2012.
• The first store is planned to be opened in Qingdao.

The Seven & i Holdings Co. unit already has a presence in Beijing, Chengdu and Tianjin through direct investment.

Suning signed a cooperative agreement with Yum! Brands to open KFC, Pizza Hut, East Dawning and Little Sheep outlets in stores.

• Yum! will open 150 restaurants in the stores run by Suning Appliance over the next five years
• Yum! has already opened trial KFC  and Pizza Hut restaurants in Suning stores in 17 cities, including Nanjing, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang and Dalian
• The new partnership will provide Yum! with access to prime locations across China

Supervalu has announced that it will close its 400,000 square foot distribution center in Xenia, Ohio.  The facility currently services stores in Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia. 

Operations will be consolidated with the retailer’s 640,000 square foot DC in Fort Wayne, Indiana, which currently has excess capacity.  The consolidation is expected to be completed in September 2012.

According to Lineaires Magazine, Systeme U Ouest CEO Yves Petitpas will step down on June 4^th 2012, after 12 years in the position. Denis Aubé will be appointed the new CEO during the General Assembly.

Denis Aube will have two vice-presidents in charge of Economic Development Region (called RED by the group): Gilles Collet will be in charge of Bretagne and Dominique Biron of Pays de La Loire. The new CEO will also be responsible for one RED, the Centre Ouest.

Tesco will open an F&F pop-up store in Covent Garden, London for four days during the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, from 30 May 2012.

• The store will feature F&F's exclusive online collections and will stock clothing for display and trial only. 
  • Shoppers will be able to buy products online via ipads.
• The "Virtual Fitting Room" and QR codes on the products will allow shoppers to try and buy clothing on their mobile phones.
• Tesco will also offer the Click-and-Collect service through the Covent Garden Tesco Metro.

Tesco  renewed its Clubcard Exchange promotion, as the "Summer Clubcard Summer Exchange", on 14 May 2012.

• The month-long exchange running between 14 May 2012 to 13 June 2012 will enable shoppers to redeem their Exchange tokens until 19 June 2012.
  • Shoppers will be able to exchange GBP 5 Clubcard vouchers for a GBP 10 Exchange token on a variety of products including clothes, garden furniture and accessories, toys and bikes, and cameras
  • The exchange can be made online or at in-store Exchange desks, excluding Tesco Express.
  • Unspent Clubcard vouchers from previous statements can also be used with the May 2012 statement vouchers.
• The promotion will be supported with a television and radio advertising campaign until 20 May 2012.

• The move supports Tesco's long term strategy of growing valued international brands.
  • The retailer currently operates three F&F stores in Central Europe including Prague and Brno (Czech Republic), and Warsaw (Poland).
  • Tesco also plans to collaborate with local partners in other countries to open standalone stores and stores within shopping malls, department stores, and hypermarkets

• SJSC is an international franchise operator with 1,300 stores across 80 brands in Saudi Arabia.

 

Stefan De Loecker, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Tesco Slovakia, has decided to leave the retailer to pursue other opportunities. Loecker will be replaced by Martin Dlouhý who joined Tesco in January 2012. Previously, Dlouhý worked for, amongst other companies, Metro and McDonalds.

Walmart opened its first store in Fuyang city, Anhui province on 16^th May 2012.

• The hypermarket under Walmart Supercenter banner covers a selling space of approximately 12,000 square meters and provides nearly 20,000 SKUs of merchandises.
• The retailer currently operates 12 hypermarkets under Walmart Supercenter banner in Anhui province.

X5’s online store, E5.ru, has launched a "pay & collect" service in Pyaterocha stores. 

• E5.ru was launched in early 2012 with the "pay & collect" service available in Perekrestok stores in Moscow and the Moscow region.
• The online store started the service in Pyaterochka stores in May 2012. 
  • E5.ru expects the service to be available in 20 stores in Moscow by the end of June 2012. 
  • X5 plans to extend the service to all Pyaterochka stores in Moscow, the Moscow region, and other Russian regions by the end of 2012.
•  To date, the service is available in three Pyaterochka stores.