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Retail Industry Newswire
January 5, 2011
North American News 

Dollar General Will Hire 6,000 for 625 New Stores

Discount-store operator Dollar General Corp. said it plans to open 625 new stores and hire more than 6,000 workers in 2011.  The company said the store openings will be in 35 states it currently operates in as well as in three new states: Connecticut, Nevada and New Hampshire. It also plans to remodel or relocate 550 stores.  Dollar General, based in Goodlettsville, Tenn., currently operates 9,200 stores and employs 88,000 staffers.

NPR



Walgreen on Track to Convert 5,500 Stores to CCR Model by Year's End

Drugstore retailer Walgreen is on track to convert 70% of the chain, about 5,500 stores, to its Consumer-Centric Retailing model by the end of 2011. The CCR initiative includes both store renovations and back-end investments in systems for merchandising, category management, pricing and business processes.   The retailer has already converted or opened approximately 2,100 CCR stores.

Retail Info Systems News



Swiss Farms Opens Inaugural Franchise Store

Drive-through grocer Swiss Farms Stores has opened its first franchise store, with veteran Starbucks and Auntie Anne's franchisee John Betz at the helm.  The location, located at 6 South White Horse Pike in Somerdale, N.J., is also Swiss Farms' first foray into the Garden State.

Progressive Grocer



United Extends NuVal Chain-Wide

United Supermarkets has made available the NuVal Nutritional Scoring System in all 50 of its stores.  The NuVal system enables United shoppers to make quick and easy nutritional comparisons between foods on supermarket aisles.  Last year, the company became the first supermarket chain in Texas to introduce the NuVal system. Shoppers can now find the NuVal scores on shelf price tags in all locations of United Supermarkets, Market Street and Amigos United.

Progressive Grocer



Weis Continues Price Freeze Program

Weis Markets has lowered the prices on 2,400 staple items chain-wide and the supermarket will freeze these prices for 90 days, until April 2.  The current price freeze includes store-brand and brand-name products in grocery, produce, frozen, dairy, meat, deli, seafood, bakery, health, beauty care and general merchandise.  This is the sixth round of the chain's Price Freeze program in two years.  The program plans to help customers save more than $6 million.

Republican Herald



Sears Enlists Bloggers to Build Consumer Electronics Buzz

In an attempt to earn some credibility in the consumer electronics category, Sears has enlisted some top CE bloggers for the Sears Blue Blogger Crew.  According to the company's blog, the idea is to provide an opportunity "for our peers (i.e. fellow gadget geeks) to share their knowledge and experience in the technology space with their readers and followers, as well as our customers."  The Blue Blogger Crew will also do interviews with members of the Sears Blue Consumer Electronics Crew and will blog for Sears at other, yet-unnamed events as well.

Mashable Business


European News 

Magnit Opens Two New Hypermarkets with Largest Format

Russia food retailer OJSC Magnit has opened two new hypermarkets.  The firm's 50th hypermarket - which is of the large format - was opened at Lenina prospect, Novorossiisk, Krasnodar region.  The total space of the store is over 15,000 sq. m. and its selling space is about 8,500 sq. m, out of which over 2,000 sq. m. is rental space.  The hypermarket consists of about 16,300 SKUs, out of which about 61% are food items.

Stock Market Wire


U.K. and Ireland News 

Morrisons Launches "Price Crunch" in Wake of VAT Rise

Morrisons has launched its "biggest ever" price cut campaign in a bid to cancel out 2.5% rise in VAT.  Morrisons claims the "price crunch" has cut the cost of over 5,000 products, meaning a typical shop of the top 44 items in each category should now cost �56.73 in comparison to �96 before the promotion began.  The supermarket adds customers can "easily" save �10 a week in its stores by purchasing a basket of what it deems the 10 essential items.

Marketing Week


Australian, Asian and African News 


Carrefour Marks its Entry into India

World's second largest retailer Carrefour has entered the booming Indian retail sector with its first wholesale cash-and-carry outlet in Delhi. The 5,200-sq.m store at Seelampur Metro Mall, inaugurated on December 30, offers 10,000 food and non-food items to professional businesses, institutions, restaurants and local retailers.  The opening of the cash-and-carry outlet is in line with Carrefour's strategy to be present in major emerging markets that offer significant expansion and medium- and long-term growth opportunities.

India Retailing



Malaysia's Green Campaign Starts at Various Retail Outlets

Starting immediately, all hypermarkets, supermarkets and Petronas (gas) stations throughout Malaysia will no longer give out free plastic bags.  Shoppers who do not bring their own plastic bags or "green bags" will be charged 20 sen for each bag they need from these outlets.  The Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry launched yesterday a simultaneous nationwide campaign to encourage more outlets to take part in the effort to reduce the usage of plastic bags.

The China Post

 

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Pushout Theft of the Week
TV News Director Busted for Shoplifting Snacks for Hungry Crew
 
 The North Carolina station's News Director since 1999, was charged with three more counts of misdemeanor larceny. The Director was first arrested Sunday morning and accused of taking $79.24 worth of groceries that hadn't been paid for from Harris Teeter. He was stopped with a cart containing bags of potato chips, Cokes, apples and Deer Park bottled water intended for the station's remote crew at the Carolina Panthers game. Typically, the order is to be covered with the station's credit card. Police said they were told by a Harris Teeter loss prevention specialist that three times between Dec. 10 and Dec. 17, the man was observed taking items from the store without paying. In each of the other three cases, the shopping list was virtually identical: 12-packs of Coke, Deer Park water, potato chips and apples.

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