RETAILER NEWS NEWS ON FASTMOVING

Johannesburg - Pick n Pay Stores [JSE:PIK] announced on Wednesday that after an extensive international search, it has appointed Richard Brasher, the former Tesco board member, as Pick n CEO effective from February 2013.  read more

Morrisons has become the latest retailer to eye growth for its own-label products after tasking Coley Porter Bell with the biggest design brief of 2011. read more

British grandmothers may still be buying underwear and sweaters at Marks & Spencer Group Plc. Their daughters are spending their money elsewhere.  read more

Pick n Pay founder Raymond Ackerman yesterday received the CNBC Africa All Africa Business Leaders Awards’ (AABLA) Lifetime Achievement award for having achieved phenomenal success as a businessman and for highlighting the importance of philanthropy in business. read more

Bloomberg Shanghai Walmart is reviewing management procedures in China as it reopened outlets in Chongqing after officials ordered all 13 of them shut for two weeks for mislabelling ordinary pork as organic. read more

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) is reviewing management procedures at its stores in China as it re-opened outlets in Chongqing after officials ordered all 13 of them shut for two weeks for mislabeling ordinary pork as organic. read more

Private label products, although currently a relatively small portion of retailers’ sales, are expected to become a more significant contributor as retailers, facing intense competition, look for ways to boost their margins. read more

Mumbai - Five years after making a grand foray into retail, Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries is nowhere close to the scale he had hoped his company, India's largest listed group, would achieve in a fragmented and fast-growing industry.  read more

Pretoria - Walmart’s success resides in the management of its supply chain. South Africa’s problem is that its manufacturing sector cannot grow quickly enough to react to changing market conditions.  read more

Cape Town - An appeal for a review of the merger between United States retail giant Walmart and local company Massmart Holdings [JSE:MSM] is "factually insupportable" and "legally misconceived", the Competition Appeal Court heard on Thursday. read more

Johannesburg - Retail group Clicks Group [JSE:CLS] on Thursday reported a 18.1% rise in diluted headline earnings per share (Heps) to 249.7 cents for the year ended August 2011. Diluted earnings per share were up 19.4% to 248.0c. read more

[Cape Town, 19 October 2011] Pick n Pay today announced the launch of a brand new Private Label brand, “Finest”, positioned as the ultimate offering in the Pick n Pay-branded range of products. Finest has been developed as an exceptional range of sophisticated food products made from premium ingredients, raw materials and delicious flavours sourced from around the world.  read more

Pick n Pay interim results show 7.4% increase in turnover; R270m invested in transformation; Smart shopper loyalty programme exceeds expectations - annual cardholder targets beaten by 30% in the first six months  read more

If the adage of admitting one's mistakes is the first step to improving, then embattled retailer Pick n Pay could well be on the road to recovery, despite being far behind the curve with a 40% decline in first-half profits.  read more

Pick n Pay, SA’s second-largest grocer, may spend as much as R250m to cut 10% of its workforce and is casting its eye over the rest of the company as it implements its transformation programme aimed at bringing global best practices into the group.  read more

Reserve Bank set to keep rates steady in spite of inflation edging closer to the top of its official 3%-6% target range read more

Johannesburg - An appeal by the government for a review of the Massmart Holdings [JSE:MSM] Walmart merger is expected to be heard on Thursday.  read more

Grain prices are near their lowest in a year and global stockpiles are on the rise - so meat, dairy and pasta prices are poised for a fall, right? read more

Johannesburg - Pick n Pay Stores [JSE:PIK], South Africa's second-biggest grocery retailer, reported a 40% decline in first-half profit on Wednesday, hit by the start-up costs for its newly launched shopper reward programme and investments in its distribution system. read more

Johannesburg - Massmart Holdings [JSE:MSM] the local retailer majority owned by Walmart Stores, said on Monday first-quarter sales rose nearly 15% and forecast a solid year ahead.  read more

UK supermarket chain Sainsbury's has announced plans to invest £1bn in a sustainability plan to reduce waste and carbon footprint in its own stores and in its supply chain in what it describes as one of the most ambitious programmes announced in the industry.  read more

Pick n Pay’s (PIK) significant investment to transform into a globally competitive retailer will have a material impact on its half-year profit, which it sees as being 35%-45% lower than last year. read more

A strike at The Spar Group’s warehouse in KwaZulu-Natal enters its fourth week tomorrow, and although deliveries to stores have not been significantly disrupted, the group has apparently incurred hefty costs to keep deliveries on track. read more

Johannesburg - South African farmers are yet to realise what the Walmart/Massmart Holdings [JSE:MSM] deal is doing to do to them, according to Agriculture Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson read more

Johannesburg - High-end South African supermarket chain Woolworths Holdings [JSE:WHL] is to open three stores in Nigeria in December, its first foray into Africa’s most populous nation as it counters a move into the poorest continent by the world’s biggest retailer, Walmart. read more

Wal-Mart backed Massmart on Tuesday signed an agreement with the South African Bureau of Standards that will ultimately boost the competitiveness of small, medium and micro enterprises in SA.  read more

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) temporarily closed six more stores in southern China on orders from local officials, bringing the total to 13, as authorities probed the company for mislabeling ordinary pork as organic.  read more

The quintessentially British food and fashion store Marks and Spencer is to return to Paris 10 years after closing French branches and has opened a French online shop, the firm said Tuesday. read more

It was “absolutely unacceptable” that Woolworths Holdings did not provide a satisfactory explanation for its reason to appoint Simon Susman as chairman, shareholder activist Theo Botha said yesterday.  read more

After two years of what analysts had called phenomenal growth, Verimark Holdings announced yesterday that it was undergoing a "consolidation phase" as profit before tax fell 23,4% in the six months to August.  read more

Pick n Pay has announced that it will transform its seafood operations by 2015. read more

Sarah Townsend will no longer have to leave her 507 Facebook friends behind to buy the £35 ($55) baggy sweater she's been eyeing from Asos. On Jan. 27, the hip, London-based online clothing site became the first European fashion retailer to open an e-tailing outpost inside Facebook. Competitors such as Gap (GPS) and Inditex's Zara use the networking site largely to communicate with fans. Visitors to Asos's store on Facebook can shop the company's entire stock of 150,000 products without leaving the site. They also can post photos of items to their wall so friends can comment on potential purchases. "It's something I want to do more of," says Townsend, a 25-year-old marketing professional in London. read more

Johannesburg - Walmart and Massmart Holdings [JSE:MSM] should increase their planned fund to support South African suppliers to at least R500m from R100m, the country’s largest service industry union said on Monday.  read more

SA has an important role to play in the global food system, and never before in history has the country been so well-positioned to advance in food safety, according to the Wal-Mart's Vice President of Food Safety. read more

EE Publishers said on Friday before Woolworths announced its recall company had demonstrated "contempt for the safety of customers" read more

Cape Town - US retail giant Walmart is warming up to small Cape Town manufacturer Econo-Heat as it is proving that growth in volumes help to reduce labour costs and to beat Chinese rivals. read more

Cape Town - Your pot plant can chirp if it needs water, the couch declare your weight, online purchases become ever easier – and the online product offering keeps expanding.  read more

Massmart CEO says his company does not disagree with the three government departments opposing its merger with Walmart read more

Internet access has been revolutionised in South Africa since MWEB became the first Internet Service Provider to launch its uncapped ADSL Internet offering last year. This is now being further enhanced by MWEB opening its fifth store at the Eastgate Shopping Centre in Bedfordview as it continues to promote Internet access to all South Africans. read more

Pick n Pay shares tumbled as much as 4% yesterday morning to R35,04, their lowest in more than two years, following an announcement after the market closed on Tuesday that earnings would drop as much as 50% due to spending on business renewal.  read more

Cabinet ministers were driving an ideological agenda against Walmart, the Democratic Alliance said on Wednesday.  read more

Johannesburg - Foschini [JSE:FOS] on Tuesday said it has bought luxury menswear brand Fabiani for an undisclosed amount, giving it entry into the high wealth customer segment that only a few of its brands currently tap into. read more

Discount retailer The Crazy Store, plans to expand its footprint and cash-in on Africa's burgeoning middle class.  read more

With the iconic Table Mountain as its backdrop, the V&A Waterfront is located around the historic Victoria and Alfred basins that formed Cape Town's original harbour. read more

Johannesburg - Massmart Holdings [JSE:MSM], the South African retailer majority owned by Walmart , plans to open 23 new stores in the next eight months, its chief executive said in a statement.  read more

Pick n Pay has concluded the sale of its Australian business, Franklins, after a lengthy delay, enabling it to focus on fixing its South African operations and expanding in Africa. read more

Shoprite Holdings was addressing the demands for broad-based black economic empowerment by creating employment opportunities for an increasing number of previously disadvantaged people, chairman Christo Wiese said in the group’s latest annual report. He said this approach “avoided a path intended to benefit a few at the expense of the wider community”. read more

SA’s second-largest supermarket chain Pick n Pay yesterday extended its African footprint with a new store opening in Mauritius.  read more

Representatives of suppliers to the world's third-largest retailer, Tesco, have hit back at its chief executive who has said that he expects suppliers to shoulder some of the burden of a £500m price-cut pledge. read more

Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) suffered a 15% drop in profit in the third quarter as the world’s second- largest fashion retailer was hit by a spike in cotton prices and other input costs, compounded by negative currency moves. read more

Walmart's chief of global sourcing has announced plans to step aside next year as the retail giant readies itself for a personnel shakeup.  read more

Berlin - Africa is starting to appear on the radar screens of Wwestern retailers as they look for the next growth opportunity in emerging markets while having to cope with subdued consumer spending at home. read more

Johannesburg - Holdsport (HSP), which runs the Sportsmans Warehouse and Outdoor Warehouse stores, on Tuesday said headline earnings per share increased by 30.4% per share to 141.7 cents for the half-year ended August 31. read more

Cape Town - There are many similarities between South Africa and Australia. Like Australia, South Africa is on steroids – but with so much more colour and enthusiasm. read more

South Africa's major supermarket chains are on the expansion path locally and abroad - and South African SMEs could cash in on the action. read more

Retailers import about 70% of their apparel, but the rand’s fall below eight against the dollar will raise costs says retail analyst Syd Vianello read more

One Digital Media has launched new advertising packages for its SPAR Digital TV network, enabling brands to target their campaigns more accurately than before. The SPAR Digital TV network features digital advertising screens in 120 large format SUPERSPARs across South Africa, thereby reaching a total footfall of 25 million visitors per month.  read more

Australian supermarkets Franklins sold to Metcash. read more

The owner of a textile factory in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal, who was fined R12 000 for employing nine undocumented immigrants, says that the lack of local skilled labour forced her into committing the offence. read more

Retailer Woolworths Holdings [JSE:WHL] on Friday said it had been included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) for the first time.  read more

Port Louis - Shoprite Holdings [JSE:SHP], the continent's biggest grocery retailer, acquired two supermarkets in Mauritius, it said on Thursday, as it increases its footprint in Africa.  read more

The finalists in the Insight NACS 2011 International Convenience Retailer of the Year Award have been announced. read more

During a difficult trading year, the Shoprite group has consistently improved the efficiency of its operating systems and cost controls to raise profitability. At the same time it is increasingly reaping the benefits of its investment in infrastructure in the past. read more

Pick n Pay has responded to the decision by the ACCC to appeal against the Federal Court’s judgment dismissing the ACCC’s application to prevent Metcash from acquiring the Franklins supermarket business.  read more

South African retailer Woolworths said on Friday it plans to open 16 new outlets in Africa this financial year, bringing total shops on the continent to 60 units.  read more

Johannesburg - Retailer Pick n Pay Stores [JSE:PIK] on Friday said it was "deeply disappointed" by the decision of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to appeal the Federal Court's August decision to dismiss its application seeking to prevent Metcash from acquiring Franklins from Pick n Pay. read more

The recall was initiated following a number of hot water bottles being returned and a customer being injured as a result of a leaking bottle. read more

Late rains, the large 2009-10 summer crop and strong rand that kept grain prices down all contributed to an uncertain start to the season read more

In recent years changing consumer lifestyles have led to the emergence of convenience stores as a shopping destination. With convenience stores open for longer hours, South Africans have found the forecourt retailer concept to be a safe and time-saving shopping experience. read more

South African retailer Massmart , majority owned by Wal-Mart , is ready to sacrifice its margins in the short term as it fights to gain a bigger slice of the domestic retail market, its chief executive officer said on Thursday.  read more

Nigeria's potent potential has made it the bull's eye of foreign and local retail companies as the 'country de jour' in which to set up shop, despite risks in in Africa.  read more

Johannesburg - South Africa's second-biggest clothing retailer Foschini [JSE:FOS] said on Monday that sales grew 17.3% in the first five months of this financial year, boosted by sales of clothing, cellphones and homewares. read more

Pick n Pay has, once again, denied that it was in talks with UK retail giant Tesco after speculation of a deal resurfaced last week. read more

Cape Town - Retailer Pick n Pay Stores [JSE:PIK] will use the A$215m ($225m) proceeds from the sale of its Australian unit to help roll out distribution centres as it gears up to fend off competition from Walmart, its chairperson said on Friday. read more

South African retailer Woolworths (WHL) on Thursday reported adjusted diluted headline earnings per share of 209.8 cents for the year ended June 2011, up from 152.2 cents in 2010 read more

Better international sourcing helped Woolworths Holdings grow adjusted headline earnings 36,7% in the year ended June 26 the company said yesterday. read more

Results point to market share gains, possible early indications of improved consumer environment; positive sales update for first 8 weeks of the new financial year. read more

Johannesburg - Shoprite Holdings, Africa's biggest grocery retailer, is spending R3bn on the upgrading and expansion of its distribution centres, the company's deputy managing director Carel Goosen said on Tuesday.  read more

Johannesburg - Shoprite Holdings, Africa's biggest grocery retailer, beat analysts estimates with a 12.4% rise in full-year profit, as lower interest rates and a tentative economic recovery boost consumer spending. read more

Lexmark International South Africa has announced a three year global services agreement with Woolworths. The contract, as part of a Managed Print Services initiative, will enable Woolworths to achieve both savings and efficiencies through its print output management.  read more

Despite being in favour of Wal-Mart entering the South African retail market, Pick n Pay chairman Gareth Ackerman indicated that his company was ready to take the giant US retailer head on and beat them.  read more

Pick n Pay once again receives highest honour at the Sunday Times Top Brands Awards. read more

Richard van Rensburg appointed as Pick n Pay's new deputy chief executive officer. read more

Target Corp, the second-largest U.S. discount retailer, posted a 3.7 percent gain in second- quarter profit that surpassed analysts’ estimates, driven by higher sales and reduced costs.  read more

Johannesburg - Growth in South Africa’s retail sales quickened to 2.2% year-on-year at constant prices in June from an upwardly revised 0.2% in May, Statistics South Africa said on Wednesday. read more

Absa Capital economist Gina Schoeman said June's retail sales figure would be keenly watched because it provided the final piece of the second quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) picture.  read more

Adviser says Walmart saved itself "tens of millions" of dollars by incorporating sustainability into its strategy read more

South Africans should brace themselves as commodity and food prices are expected to be a lot higher next year, driven mainly by unreliable weather, the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy says.  read more

It’s a question that may keep many marketers and brand managers awake at night – are private label brands encroaching on national brands? The answer is yes, and no, according to Dr Magda Nenycz-Thiel, a senior researcher from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science at the University of South Australia.  read more

In kitchens all across the country 1063 boerewors-fundis are getting down to the serious business of making their special traditional boerewors for the regional rounds of one of South Africa’s fiercest culinary battles - the 2011 Shoprite Checkers Championship Boerewors Competition. The nerve-racking regional clashes take place on Saturdays 13, 20 and 27 August at selected locations countrywide.  read more

Pick’ n Pay (Foster group) has collaborated with Swaziland Meat Industries, Wigwam (SA) and Southern Trading Company on a social responsibility campaign aimed at helping the needy.  read more

The Competition Tribunal recently approved the Shoprite Metcash franchise deal on condition that jobs are not lost in the process.  read more

South Africa’s love of avos has given Woolworths the opportunity to help develop emerging farmers in the Limpopo region.  read more

Following our editorial entitled Africa: the next big retail destination in the FMCG Files 04.08.11 it is noteworthy to look at Nigeria’s retail sector, which is under-utilised according to international standards. In spite of this, Nigeria seems to be a place of opportunity for retailers. read more

Doing the weekly shop on the Internet beats trailing up and down the aisles and queueing at the tills. But then customers may have to wait days for their groceries to arrive. And when they do, it may be at an inconvenient time.  read more

Massmart and Walmart note the media statement issued by the Ministers of Economic Development, Trade and Industry, and Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, following a media conference held at the Union Buildings earlier today.  read more

South Africa's confectionery sales climbed over 19 percent between 2006 and 2010, notes a recent overview of the country’s sweets and chocolate market by Leatherhead Food Research. Value sales of sugar confectionery, gum and chocolate in South Africa were worth R10.44bn in 2010, it says, adding market growth has been helped by World Cup 2010. read more

(Reuters) - Nestled in a sleepy southern district of Kunming city in southwest China, is a 10,000 square meter, four-story building that could make Swedish furniture giant Ikea uneasy. read more

Unsuspecting consumers have been short-changed by some of the major retailers for years - but all that is about to change. read more

The nation will have the opportunity to watch the dazzling event at which the title winners of the Shoprite Checkers Women of the Year Award accepted their awards when it is broadcasted during prime time on Monday, 8 August 2011 on M-Net at 21h30. It will be re-broadcast on National Women’s Day, 09 August 2011 at 15h00.  read more