Supermarket wars: Aldi has changed the face of UK retailing in its first 25 years – but it must adapt as much as everyone else to continue August 24, 2015 As Aldi celebrates 25 years of trading in the UK the joy may be felt by the German-owned discount chain and the great British price-conscious shopping public for its impact on the cost of food. But the reaction from rival retailers, big and small, and pretty much everyone else in the supply chain who [...]
Tesco share price falls as supermarkets suffer for third day amid renewed concerns about discounters Aldi and Lidl August 20, 2015 When one supermarket sneezes, it seems the rest catch a cold. Shares in troubled supermarket Tesco fell to their lowest level since January this morning, two days after Asda reignited concerns over the threat from German discounters. Tesco shares dropped 1.77 per cent today, while Sainsbury's shed 0.77 per cent. Both are down about four percent since [...]
Walmart’s Asda has reached its “nadir” says chief Andy Clarke as supermarket chalks up more declines August 19, 2015 Asda boss Andy Clarke has said the troubled supermarket's “nadir” has been reached, as the Walmart-owned retailer revealed yet another slump in sales. Second quarter like-for-likes were down 4.7 per cent, while profits were flat. Clarke described the figures as “disappointing, but a short-term picture”. “We've hit our nadir,” Clarke said insisting there was [...]
Asda promises turnaround after sales hit rock bottom August 19, 2015 ASDA chief executive Andy Clarke insisted that the company was seeing the first “green shoots” of a recovery despite revealing its worst ever quarterly result in the 16 years it has been owned by US chain Wal-Mart. The supermarket chain, which recently lost its position as Britain’s second-largest food retailer to Sainsbury’s, said like-for-like sales [...]
Dairy farmers blockade Morrisons distribution centre over falling milk prices August 7, 2015 Dairy farmers have stepped up their protests against supermarket price wars, saying they will not be “bullied by British retailers”. This week has seen a swathe of protests directed at supermarkets including Morrisons and Asda. Last night farmers and their families staged a human blockade at Morrisons' regional distribution centre in Bridgwater. Unions [...]
Tesco and Sainsbury’s vs Asda and Morrisons: Britain’s biggest retailers row over Sunday trading laws August 5, 2015 British businesses are readying for a fight over government plans to shake up Sunday trading rules. The government will today open a formal consultation on proposals to give local areas the power to allow large shops to open for longer on Sundays. Current laws allow smaller shops to stay open all day, but limit larger [...]
The Jerky Group and Cruga merge to create £24m beef snacks empire August 3, 2015 The Jerky Group has struck a deal to merge with biltong and meat snacks-maker Cruga to create the largest beef snack manufacturer in Europe with a combined turnover of around £12m. Founded in 2000, The Jerky Group’s brands include Wild West Jerky, Hogbites pork crackling and BullOx Biltong. It also produces Dragon’ Den entrepreneur Joe Walters’ [...]
Supermarket wars: Growth at Co-op Food for first time in a year, as Tesco and Asda decline yet again July 28, 2015 The Co-Operative supermarket is back in growth for the first time in a year, as Sainsbury's reclaims its second place position in the sector. The sector experienced slight growth for the 12 weeks to 19 July, with sales up 0.8 per cent year on year – though this was generally experienced by the smaller [...]
Amazon overtakes Walmart as US’ biggest retailer: But has it really stolen its crown? July 24, 2015 The king is dead: Long live the king. If Americans still had monarchic leanings that might be how they would have viewed last night’s shock announcement that Walmart, that behemoth of retailing, had lost its crown as the nation’s biggest retailer. The fact that it lost it to Amazon, a dot-com upstart with no physical [...]
Iceland boss Malcolm Walker: Which? supercomplaint over supermarket offers was “b*****ks” July 17, 2015 Iceland boss Malcolm Walker – the supermarket sector's answer to Michael O'Leary – has blasted the Which? supercomplaint over misleading deals as “bollocks”. The consumer group took a petition signed by more than 100,000 to the Competition and Markets Authority earlier this year, claiming it had found examples of “dodgy special offers” that led [...]