English news 12 octobre 2007

AEON Bank to start accepting account applications on October 20

AEON Bank yesterday announced that it will begin accepting applications to open accounts on October 20th. The bank will open two branches in AEON shopping centres in Tokyo and another city on Oct 29 and begin operating 460 automated teller machines in Kanto, Kansai and other regions. ''We will offer thoroughly consumer-oriented services. Banking is not a special business,'' AEON President Motoya Okada said at a press conference after the bank received a banking license from the Financial Services Agency. AEON Bank is expecting to have 2.6 million accounts and to manage deposits of JPY700 billion (USD5.7 billion) in the first three years of operations. It is hoping to climb into the black in fiscal 2009 ending March 31, 2010. According to its business plan, the new bank will open around 20 branches in AEON shopping centres in fiscal 2007 and add 50 more the following year.

AHOLD reaches agreement on sale of Tops

Netherlands-based retailer Ahold announced yesterday that it will sell its US banner Tops Markets to Morgan Stanley Private Equity for USD310 million. The final purchase price is subject to customary price adjustments. Closing of the transaction is expected in the fourth quarter of 2007 subject to the fulfilment of customary closing conditions, including receipt of regulatory approvals and a financing condition. Capitalised lease obligations will remain with Tops although Ahold will retain contingent liability for the majority of these lease obligations. Tops operates stores in western New York, mid-state New York including the Rochester area, and

CARREFOUR looks to sell Italian hypermarkets and cash & carries

According to Italian financial newspaper "Il Sole 24 Ore", Carrefour has instructed the Citigroup bank to oversee the sale of its cash & carry division located in the North and of hypermarkets located in the South of the country. 11 cash and carries as well as 17 hypermarkets with a turnover of EUR250 million (USD335 million) are involved. "Carrefour has big logistics problems regarding volumes and organisation, both in Campania and in Calabria. The group is facing difficulties in Italy and it is seeking to concentrate in the Middle-North of the country and on the supermarkets which obtain better results," the managing director of an Italian rival chain told French magazine LSA.

CFS to show shareholders how merger will boost value

The chairman of Japanese drugstore chain CFS, Kenji Ishida, has announced that the retailer intends to present shareholders with a plan for boosting its corporate value to justify its merger with rival Ain Pharmacies. CFS’ leading shareholder, AEON, opposes the merger, arguing that it will damage shareholder value and that CFS breached trust as an equal business partner. "We have asked AEON for understanding, based on our good-faith efforts as an equal partner," according to Mr Ishida, adding that CFS would seek to win understanding from AEON and other shareholders by showing them how the merger could boost corporate value. "We will accelerate opening drugstores combined with prescription pharmacy, an area expected to grow," according to Mr Ishida. CFS intends to introduce Ain Pharmacies' prescription error-protection system, as well.

Australia next year for COSTCO?

Costco may enter Australia next year with the opening of three to five stores, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. The warehouse club operator, which has been eyeing the Australian market for the past several years, would likely set up in affluent suburbs.

DAIEI first half operating profit slump

Daiei has this morning reported a 79.7% fall in operating profit for the first half to August to JPY5.15 billion (USD9.3 million) as sales fell against tough competition and unseasonable weather. Daiei also blamed losses at its credit card subsidiary OMC Card for slicing off its profits. Operating revenue dropped 10.7% to JPY600.38 billion (USD4.8 billion), led by a slump in the clothing segment. The absence of major revenue contributors, such as the pachinko and building maintenance businesses which Daiei sold last year, also helped trim the company's overall revenue, President Toru Nishimi told a news conference. "The sales of apparel and food were hit by unseasonably low temperature in April and May as well as the prolonged rainy season which extended into July. But sales picked up on heatwaves in August and recovered to just below year-ago levels towards the end of the fiscal half." Net profit, on the other hand, more than tripled to JPY46.03 billion (USD375.2 million) from JPY13.35 billion (USD114.5 million) as the retailer booked a hefty one-time gain from the partial sale of its stake in OMC Card. The retailer has lowered its group net profit forecast for the fiscal year ending February due to a loss expected at OMC Card to JPY48 billion (USD391.3 million) from JPY54 billion (USD440.2 million). The retailer has also announced that it will start selling products under the "TopValu" private brand of AEON at its outlets and will stop selling its "Savings" own brand goods by the end of fiscal 2008.

Pampa Holding offers for ESSO Argentina unit

According to local press reports, Argentine energy holding company Pampa Holding has offered USD325 million for ExxonMobil’s local service station unit. ExxonMobil has declined to comment on the possible sale, repeating it is continuing to run its business in Argentina as usual.

IZUMI downgrades FY net profit forecast

Japanese retailer Izumi has downgraded its full year net profit forecast 6.6% to JPY12.7 billion (USD103.5 million) after reporting an 14.8% increase in net profit for the half year to August to JPY6.4 billion (USD52.1 million). Operating revenue was up 6.1% to JPY231.2 billion (USD1.8 billion). Full-year operating revenue forecast has increased 1.2% to JPY471.5 billion (USD3.8 billion).

METRO has remodelled five Romanian cash & carries

As reported by Piata, Metro Cash and Carry Romania has finalised the redesign of its store in Suceava, an operation in which the company invested EUR3.5 million (USD4.6 million) and which increased the sales area by 1,900 square metres, up to 7,100 square metres. The enlarged departments are: wines, fish and seafood, fruit and vegetables, fresh meat and frozen food. The process of remodelling has also brought two new sectors: Garden Centre (a gardening area with over 300 square metres) and Gastro (a department which features foodservice equipment). At the beginning of last year, Metro launched a remodelling programme for its Romanian stores, under which five outlets (located in Timisoara, Brasov, Bucuresti, Cluj-Napoca and Suceava) have been redesigned so far.

PRICE CHOPPER cereal box with kid friendly labels

In collaboration with the University of Albany, in the USA Price Chopper has unveiled a new cereal box that features kid-friendly labels. Information on nanotechnology can now be found on the back of the company’s private label Koo-Kies and Peanut Butter Cocoa Sphere cereals. “Price Chopper is thrilled to be collaborating with educators from the University at Albany’s College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering on this unique breakfast lesson that nourishes the mind,” said Mona Golub, VP of Public Relations and Consumer Services for Price Chopper. “Given all of the technological distraction that cyberspace makes accessible to kids, it is truly rewarding to be able to impart relevant educational messages to them, via our Price Chopper brand cereal boxes,” Golub added.

SAFEWAY third quarter results

In the USA Safeway has reported a net income of USD194.6 million for the third quarter ended September 8, 2007. Net income in the third quarter of 2006 was USD173.5 million. Total sales and other revenue increased 3.9% to USD9.8 billion in the third quarter of 2007 compared to USD9.4 billion in the third quarter of 2006. Excluding the effect of fuel sales, comparable-store sales increased 3.2% and identical-store sales increased 3.0%. "Our Lifestyle store rollout, along with innovation in both perishable and non-perishable offerings, continues to generate sales growth in our stores," said Steve Burd, Chairman, President and CEO. "This coupled with cost reduction efforts continue to drive strong performance." Safeway confirmed 2007 guidance for earnings as well as non-fuel identical-store sales growth of 3.6% to 3.8% and free cash flow of USD400 million to USD600 million.

SCHNUCKS blames competitors for store closure

In the USA, Schnucks has blamed Wal-Mart amongst other competitors for its decision to close one of its stores. The retailer noted that "In anticipation of new grocery competitors entering the market, leaders of Schnuck Markets [have] announced plans to close its first Arnold Schnucks location and consolidate services." All 73 store associates will be offered transfers to comparable positions at other Schnucks locations including the second store in Arnold, MO. According to Schnucks Chairman and CEO Scott Schnuck, this particular store has been unprofitable for the past several years. "We kept it open due, in large part, to the great effort our store team put forth in retaining our loyal customers," said Schnuck. "We are very grateful to our customers for their support of our Arnold location and hope to continue serving them from other locations." Schnuck says recent public incentives awarded to local developments cleared the way for competing businesses to draw upon the available customer base. "Given its size, there is already a fair amount of competition in the Arnold community, and news that another grocer and a Wal-Mart Supercenter were entering the community was really the tipping point," Schnuck added.

Schuitema C1000 pilots mobile phone payment system

In the Netherlands, Logica has announced details of a pilot project at a branch of a C1000 supermarket in Molenaarsgraaf, near Rotterdam where 100 customers will be able to pay for their shopping by mobile phone. This six month pilot is an open innovation initiative led by LogicaCMG and Ahold owned Schuitema (who own the C1000 supermarket chain) in close cooperation with Rabobank, KPN, NXP Semiconductors and RFID Platform Nederland. The solution uses the existing online PIN payment infrastructure with the debit card replaced by a mobile phone. The mobiles are equipped with NFC technology (Near Field Communication), which supports contact-free exchange of information, such as payments, over a short distance. For customers, the key benefit is convenience as they no longer have to carry cash or debit cards to pay for shopping, but can simply take their mobile phone. For the customers taking part in the experiment, groceries can be paid for by simply holding the mobile phone next to the NFC reader at the checkout and entering their individual PIN. In addition to paying for shopping by mobile phone, bottle deposit refunds can also be stored on the phone.

TARGET to open 61 stores this weekend

US discounter Target has announced that it will be opening 61 stores on Sunday, October 14th. Openings will be concentrated in California (8), Florida (7), Minnesota (5), Ohio (5) and Texas (5). After the openings, the retailer will trade through 1,591 stores in 47 states nationwide.

WAL-MART Canada installs narrowcasting

EK3 Technologies has announced that its subsidiary company ShopCast has signed an exclusive agreement to install EK3 digital merchandising solutions in Wal-Mart Canada stores. Under the agreement, EK3 and ShopCast will install the narrowcasting system in 60 stores by the end of 2007 and eventually in all Wal-Mart Canada locations. "Partnering with EK3 and ShopCast will enable us to strategically reach out to Wal-Mart customers instore to inform, entertain and help save them money,'' said Mike Dombrow, director of marketing for Wal-Mart Canada. "When we began discussions with EK3, we quickly became excited about the potential of this partnership. Their products are strategically designed to help our business in many ways while delivering the highest quality video to our customers throughout our stores." EK3 and ShopCast will deliver a combination of advertising, digital merchandising and Wal-Mart Television on numerous screens throughout each store.

WAL-MART boss defends reliance on low cost imports

Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott has defended the retailer's reliance on low-cost imports against what he called emerging economic nationalism. Scott told a retailing conference he would like to stock more US-made goods but that Wal-Mart's business model is based on offering the lowest price for consumers who cannot afford to spend more. Scott was answering a question from a conference attendee who wanted to know if Wal-Mart would buy more US-made products to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of global transport and to bring manufacturing jobs back to the US from overseas markets. "Right now, the way it works, our model is `We sell for less.' If we put products out there and we have to sell them for more because our competitors are sourcing more efficiently and more effectively for the same quality of product, our model doesn't work. We cannot be at a price disadvantage," Scott said. "Lest anybody forget, 20% of Wal-Mart's customers don't have a checking account and they do not have the economic luxury of making a broader social statement," he told a conference of the Center for Retailing Excellence, part of the University of Arkansas' Sam M. Walton Business College.

WAL-MART Stores raises third quarter outlook

Wal-Mart Stores yesterday raised its earnings outlook for the third quarter, citing better cost controls at its US division. Chief Executive Lee Scott said the quarter was seeing an improvement from what he called a "very poor performance" in the second quarter. Wal-Mart boosted its forecast for earnings from continuing operations in the third quarter to a range of USD0.66 to USD0.69 per share, up from an earlier outlook for of USD0.62 to USD0.65 per share. "For the first two months of the quarter, we have seen improvement in initial margin and expense leverage at the Wal-Mart Stores division, which is driving this change," said Tom Schoewe, chief financial officer.

WAL-MART launches first recyclable cloth shopping bag

In the USA, Wal-Mart plans to unveil its first recyclable cloth shopping bag this weekend. The black bags touting a slogan -- "Paper or Plastic? Neither." -- will be available near checkout counters for USD1 each as an alternative for shoppers averse to using plastic bags.

WAL-MART and METRO to launch in Malaysia

According to unconfirmed reports in the local press, citing the Malaysian Domestic Trade Minister Shafie Apdal, Wal-Mart Stores and Metro have applied for state approval to open stores in Malaysia. However, both Wal-Mart and Metro will have to "comply with local procedures in regard to the retail industry," Shafie was quoted as saying. Neither retailer would be allowed to open new stores at their discretion.

WALGREENS executive promotions

US drugstore chain Walgreens has announced that Stanley B. Blaylock and Mia M. Scholz have been promoted from divisional to corporate vice presidents. Blaylock will retain his title of VP of specialty pharmacy for Walgreens Health Services, the managed care division of Walgreens. "We're fortunate to have someone of Stan's calibre and experience driving our specialty pharmacy expansion," said Walgreens Chairman and CEO Jeffrey A. Rein. "He knows the business as well as anyone and is passionate about the benefits specialty drugs have on the lives of patients." Scholz has been promoted to corporate vice president of accounting and controller. She joined Walgreens in 1999 as director of internal audit and was named divisional vice president of accounting and controller in 2003.

WHOLE FOODS uses ESL in Southwest

Whole Foods has expanded its use of electronic shelf labelling throughout its Southwest division. Its Plano, TX store was the first in the region to switch from paper to digital labels three years ago. Its success has led to all stores in Texas and Louisiana to make the switch, which Whole Foods claims is environmentally friendly as it reduces the amount of paper and plastic used when prices are changed. "It saves us a lot of labour and materials," said Michael Maynard, head of Whole Foods Southwest Regional Information Technology. "We used to use a little vinyl shelf tag that we put on a plastic chip and put that on the shelf. You can imagine how much labour (switching) saved us." Maynard added that electronic shelf labelling allows Whole Foods to react more quickly to changes in competitor prices. "If somebody has lower prices down the street, we can change the whole category down to the price as well," he said. The company uses thousands of digital shelf tags, which cost about USD5 apiece. Local competitor H-E-B is also using them in a San Antonio, TX pilot store, although implementing it in all stores would be too expensive and could ultimately result in prices increases. H-E-B spokesperson Leslie Lockett said, "At H-E-B, we don't change our prices very often, it's mostly our sale prices, so the labour savings aren't as great as one may think. Right now we are not interested in buying the technology across the company."

BARNES & NOBLE launches online Jewish book club

Barnes & Noble has announced it has launched a Jewish-themed online book club. The club is run in partnership with Nextbook, which promotes Jewish cultural literacy through www.nextbook.org. It marks the first time that Barnes & Noble is working with a Jewish organisation to develop content for one of its online book clubs. Located at www.bn.com/nextbook, the new site offers moderated discussions of Nextbook's Jewish Encounters series of books about significant Jewish figures and historical themes.

HOME RETAIL GROUP buys Focus DIY stores

Home Retail Group, the UK’s largest household goods retailer, has purchased 27 leasehold stores from Focus DIY for GBP40 million (USD79.4 million) in cash. The stores will be fitted out under the Homebase brand. Focus DIY, the home improvement retailer, was taken over in July by US equity firm, Cerberus, after it failed to meet its debt costs. The properties are expected to be transferred at the end of the year and will then be refitted ready for the peak spring trading period, involving a capital investment of around GBP30 million (USD59.5 million), Home Retail Group said in a statement. Some 720 staff will transfer from Focus to Homebase. The acquisition will raise the total number of Homebase stores to about 330, increasing store space by 8.5%.

TEKHNOSILA drives investment

Electronics and home appliances company Teknosila has pledged to invest USD10 million in restyling its stores, public relations director Anna Bakanovich announced. It has also announced its plans to open seven shops in October. With over 100 stores in its network already, the further stores will include locations in Novosibirsk, Smolensk, Reutov (in the Moscow area), Kamensk-Uralsk, Vladimir, and two in Voronezh.

TOYS ‘R’ US sports uncluttered look, wider assortment of products

Toys ‘R’ has announced it has just finished straightening up the aisles, removing clutter and oddly shaped fixtures within its stores, to create more room for this festive period. The reconfiguration created the equivalent of adding 20 new stores, according to Jerry Storch, chairman and chief executive. Stores average about 3,717 to 4,182 square metres. As a result, Toys ‘R’ Us has been able to increase its assortment of musical instruments and added new brands. In recent months, the retailer had been expanding to new brands that did not have mass distribution, but accelerated those efforts after a slew of recalls of lead-tainted toys from China this summer.

WHSMITH executives reap the rewards of increased profits

The senior executives of WHSmith are in line to share a GBP20 million (USD39.7 million) payout as a lucrative incentive scheme draws to a close, it has been reported. The payouts, which will include GBP3.5 million (USD6.9 million) for chief executive Kate Swann, are scheduled for early next year if the company reaches pre-set targets. But after unveiling a 29% increase in annual profits yesterday, the bonuses have been partially secured. Barring a disaster for the company between now and January, maximum payouts will be earned, however, Ms Swann insisted she had yet to decide what to spend her bonus on: “A week is a long time in retail. There are no guarantees,” she said. The scheme, which applies to more than 30 WHSmith bosses, was set up in 2004 and allowed executives to invest up to a year’s salary in shares. If targets were met, they could be rewarded after three years with payouts of up to five times their investment.