U.S. Retailer Marshalls Ready to Open its Doors for Business in Canada

The popular off-price U.S. retailer Marshalls has officially landed in Canada. Media were invited to a sneak peek of the spacious Leaside location in Toronto on Wednesday - one of the first three Canadian stores opening Thursday. Two additional Ontario stores are scheduled to open next month in Mississauga and Ajax.

Winnipeg Free Press

Roche Bros. Supermarkets' New Call-in Service

Roche Bros. and Sudbury Farms Supermarkets, with 18 stores in the Greater Boston market and Cape Cod, has recently started a new concept in grocery shopping: the Call-in Service. Meeting the needs of the transportation-compromised communities, including the elderly, disabled and chronically ill, the new Call-in Service provides the ability to call-in a grocery order via the phone and have the groceries delivered to the customer's doorstep.

Bradenton

Some Grocers Abandon Rebates for Reusable Bags

Supermarkets are finding a little bit of green doesn't make a big difference in breaking shoppers of the "paper or plastic?" habit. Some chains including Kroger and Safeway are starting to move away from the pennies-per-bag rebates, saying they don't do enough to keep customers from forgetting reusables at home or in their cars.

ABC News

Whole Foods Market to Debut Green Film Festival

Whole Foods Market announced the debut of its nationwide "Whole Foods Market Do Something Reel" Film Festival. The film festival will begin April 1 and continue throughout the month, traveling to 70 cities across the U.S., in honor of Earth Month.

Paste Magazine

Cencosud Profit, Sales Jump in FY

Regional retail conglomerate Cencosud has reported a strong rise in profits and sales for its last fiscal year, despite lower international reported sales, which were hurt by the strength of the local peso. For the year, net profit rose by 21.6% to 296.3bn Chilean pesos, EBITDA soared by 37% to a record 527.4bn pesos, and sales were up 12.3% to 6.19trn pesos. Cencosud has said it plans to invest nearly $1bn this year to expand its operations in Latin America, up from the $800m it invested in 2010.

KamCity

Dutch Ahold Takes First Step into Belgian Market

Dutch grocer Ahold opens its first store in Belgium this week in a move that could intensify competition for existing supermarket groups Delhaize, Colruyt and Carrefour. The store in Brasschaat, on the edge of Antwerp and less than 20 km (12 miles) from the Dutch border, is the first of what Ahold hopes will be a string of its Albert Heijn stores across Flanders, the Dutch-speaking north of Belgium.

Reuters

CBA Reports Modest FY Sales Growth

The CBA supermarket chain has reported a modest rise in revenue for 2010, with growth of 1.4% to 555bn forints (€2.05bn). The company attributed the slowdown to the closure of several outlets last year, as it shut down 200 of its smaller shops.

KamCity

China Nepstar Q4 Profit Drops

China Nepstar Chain Drugstore Ltd. Wednesday reported a decline in profit for the fourth quarter as increased selling and administrative expenses offset a slight improvement in revenues.  Nepstar, a major drug store chain in China, posted net income of 17 million renminbis or $2.6 million, down from 42.5 million renminbis in the same quarter of last year.

RTT News

Ikea Opens Largest Mideast Outlet on Yas Island

Aldar Properties and Al Futtaim Group on Tuesday opened Ikea's largest store in the Middle East at Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. They anticipate nearly 1.3 million visitors in the first year of operations at the 33,000square metres flagship store.

Emirates 24/7