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Letterone Investment Holdings, the investment group led by Russian tycoon Mikhail Fridman, valued at $ 600 million at the current exchange rate, its 75% stake in DIA's capital at the end of 2019, the year in which the Luxembourg-based holding company launched the takeover bid and a capital increase to control the Spanish supermarket chain. Click here for more: https://cincodias.elpais.com/cincodias/2020/06/08/companias/1591650827_367823.html?rel=mas

Discount Retail Chain Aldi has hit the 2,000-store mark in the United States and, in another expansion wave, plans to open more than 70 new locations by the end of 2020, extending its reach into a new state. According to Jason Hart, CEO of Aldi U.S., the company officially reached 2,000 stores in June with the opening of two new stores in California. Overall, Aldi expects to open 100 stores in 2020. Later this year, Aldi is slated to enter Arizona, which will be the hard discount grocer’s 37th state, with the opening of four new stores in the greater Phoenix market. Aldi, too, is setting the foundation for a Gulf Coast expansion. Plans call for the retailer to break ground in 2021 on a new regional headquarters and distribution center in Loxley, Ala. The facility will serve new stores in southern Alabama, across the Florida panhandle and in Louisiana. The chain now operates 180 stores in Alabama and Florida as well as four regional headquarters and DCs in the region. The new stores and market areas are part of a $5 billion, five-year expansion strategy that Aldi unveiled in 2017. Under a plan announced in June 2017, the company is investing $3.4 billion to expand from 1,700 to 2,500 stores nationwide — and serving 100 million customers per month — by the end of 2022. Aldi has set target to become the 3rd largest grocery retailer in the USA by 2022. That effort followed a $1.6 billion store refresh project launched in February 2017, which calls for the remodeling and/or expansion of over 1,300 stores by the end of 2020. In August 2018, Aldi also embarked on major product expansion in which 20% of items in every store will be new compared with a year ago. The company, too, increased its fresh food selection by 40%, focusing on new produce, meat and organic foods, along with easy-to-prepare items. In entering new markets, Aldi has seen a strong response to its consumer proposition of easy-to-shop stores, high-quality store brands and low pricing, according to Hart. Although the coronavirus outbreak has led many businesses across the country to suspend growth plans, Aldi has been able to press ahead with its expansion program. The curbside pickup is due to be in place at almost 600 stores by the end of July, Aldi reported. Through Instacart, which powers the front end for the online pickup service, the retailer also offers grocery delivery in more than 10,000 ZIP codes. Hart said Aldi has been able to adjust to the changing shopper behavior and supply chain disruptions seen across the grocery retail sector. Click here for more: https://www.supermarketnews.com/retail-financial/aldi-us-eyes-expansion-38th-state-after-opening-2000th-store?NL=SN-09&Issue=SN-09_20200721_SN-09_380&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_1_b&utm_rid=CPG06000042088314&utm_campaign=39815&utm_medium=email&elq2=0eb48969bee64f51b19cbdaf830034e6

Discount Retail Chain Tiendas 3B reached the 219th in the ranking of the 500 largest companies in Mexico. The Mexican magazine 'Expansion' publishes every year a report on the 500 largest companies in Mexico. Last year, 2019 Tiendas 3B reached the 254th position, in the July 2020 edition of the 'Expansion', Tiendas 3B holds the 219th position. In the ranking of the fastest growing companies Tienda 3B is ranked 14th. surpassing all of its Mexican retail competitors. Tiendas 3B started in 2004 as a greenfield start-up development by the Lebanese businessman Anthony Hatoum. Having more almost 1,000 stores, 8 logistical centres and more than 9,000 employees in Mexico. Realising revenues of about $700 mio in 2019. Tienda 3B targets to be among the 100 largest companies in Mexico within the coming years. Emphasizing its company mission: 'Haz tu despensa inteligent' ('do your grocery shopping smart'). Click here for more: https://expansion.mx/empresas/2020/07/15/estas-son-las-500-empresas-mas-importantes-de-mexico-2020

Discount Retail Chain DIA has reached an agreement with various partners for the construction of a logistics platform in Illescas, Toledo, on a total area of ​​127,000 m2 of which the warehouse will occupy about 68,000 m2. This warehouse, whose investment will involve at least about $58 million, will be the largest DIA has in Spain and will serve stores in the Community of Madrid, Castilla-La Mancha and Castilla y León, which represents around 500 stores. The construction will begin this summer and the new warehouse is scheduled to be operational first half of 2022. DIA's warehouse is part of the 'Illescas Green Logistics Park' facilities, a project promoted by Aquila Capital in the second phase of Plataforma Central Iberum, the first eco-industrial park in Spain. The warehouse will be built under high environmentally responsible standards, with solar panels, so it will be self-sufficient. The warehouses DIA has in Arroyomolinos, Mejorada del Campo, Madrid province and Azuqueca de Henares in Guadalajara, will transfer their operations to Illescas and will be closed. In this way, it is expected that the workers of these three warehouses will join the workforcein the new warehouse, which will be made up of around 500 employees at the time it is operating. The Ensign warehouse in Getafe, Madrid, will continue its operations. This is one more step in the DIA transformation process. The company explains that to achieve its present objectives, it requires "a solid logistics network adapted to the current and future needs of the company and capable of supplying stores to respond in a timely manner to customer demands". This project is carried out thanks to the collaboration with Aquila Capital, owner of the land and responsible for the construction of the warehouse according to DIA's specifications; real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield; Tewis Smart, a company specialized in the installation of refrigerators; and the Illescas Town Hall. Click here for more: https://www.foodretail.es/retailers/dia-nave-logistica-illescas-toledo-inversion_0_1457554248.html

Discount Retail Chain Aldi has joined the so-called Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). The Aldi press release says "we set binding and scientifically tested targets for reducing CO2 emissions over the next two years." These Science Based Targets (SBTs) are business goals that let companies stay within the 2°C rise. Paris Climate Agreement Through this international collaboration, Aldi involves its suppliers to set combined climate goals to support the Paris Climate Agreement. The cooperation with SBTi ensures that the accompanying measures also contribute to achieving the 1.5°C target from the Paris climate agreement. "For the first time, Aldi involved suppliers in working out the goals to jointly reduce or avoid emissions in the supply chain," said an Aldi spokesman. Greenhouse gas emissions With this step, Aldi is building on its climate protection policy from 2018, with which the discounter wants to reduce its own greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2021 compared to 2015.

Discount Retail Chain Lidl has opened the 51,000-square-meter logistics center, built by Merko Group's Latvian subsidiary, as first step for its market entry in Latvia and Estonia. The logistics centre will serve all the Lidl stores that will be opened the coming years in Estonia and Latvia. Lidl's Latvian headquarters will also be located in the logistics center. The construction of the center costed $65 million, construction work began in 2018. In addition to the warehouse building, the logistics center will house office, meeting and recreation rooms. According to Jakob Josefsson, CEO of Lidl Latvia and Lidl Estonia, the completed logistics center will now be furnished. The logistics center in Riga employs 150 people. Click here for more: https://corporate.lidl.lv/lv/pressreleases/2020/logistikas-centrs-pabeigts

Discount Retail Chain Dollar General Corporation announced plans for its 2020 Supplier and Diversity Innovation Summit. This virtual event will provide companies holding a wide variety of diversity certifications that have not sold products to the Company within the past 18 months with an opportunity to meet with Dollar General merchandise buyers and category managers. "We are excited to host our 2020 Supplier and Diversity Innovation Summit and engage with potential new vendors as part of Dollar General's continual efforts to provide relevant products to our customers," said Jason Reiser, Dollar General's executive vice president and chief merchandising officer.  "We are grateful for the continued partnership with Efficient Collaborative Retail Marketing (ECRM) to support these ongoing efforts, and we look forward to learning about how new businesses and products can best serve our customers." In order to participate, suppliers must hold at least one of the diversity certifications and provide items listed in the categories below: Merchandise Categories Beauty Personal Care Over-the-Counter/Wellness General Merchandise Grocery “Respecting the dignity and differences of others is a core value and cultural cornerstone of Dollar General, and this year’s Supplier and Diversity Innovation Summit reflects our ongoing efforts to offer the right products for each unique customer and community we serve,” said Johné Battle, Dollar General’s vice president of diversity and inclusion.  “We are proud to serve a diverse consumer base throughout the communities we call home and look forward to the opportunity to find more relevant products to meet their needs.” To apply, interested suppliers, companies and manufacturers may submit their private label and/or branded label food and non-food product information at www.rangeme.com/dgsupplierdiversity from Wednesday, July 22 through end of day on Friday, August 7, 2020.  Selected companies are expected to be notified via email by Efficient Collaborative Retail Marketing (ECRM) of the time of their virtual meeting with a member of the Dollar General merchandising team. Click here for more: https://newscenter.dollargeneral.com/news/dollar-general-announces-2020-supplier-and-diversity-innovation-summit.htm

Italian Discount Retail Chain Eurospin opens its first store in Zadar (Croatia) in August. Customers who are familiar with Eurospin stores in Italy and Slovenia, enthusiastically welcomed the news of the arrival of a new Croatian chain of Italian roots. Under the motto Smart Shopping, the doors of the first Croatian Eurospin store will open in Zadar, on August 13th! With more than 2,500 products of its own Private Label brands, Eurospin offers a complete range of food and non-food products from verified quality meaty product in department butchers, delicious delicatessen, bakery products bakery, fruits and vegetables, to clothing, home appliances and other items for everyday use . In Eurospin stores you will find exclusively Eurospin brands and products designed according to the requirements of each ndividual imarket. In this way, Croatian customers will be provided with a unique and most favorable range, in accordance with the values ​​of Smart Shopping. Eurospin regularly updates its diverse offer, giving space to domestic products to meet the needs of the market in which it is present. It will be the same in Croatia, where Eurospin has been working closely with local family farms for some time in order to provide Croatian customers with the freshest food every day. Quality and Smart In response to consumers' need for savings, Eurospin was founded in Italy in 1993, today it is one of the leading discount retail store in this part of Europe. Eurospin offered quality products in accordance with the tastes and traditions of individual markets and devised the concept of Smart Shopping: unique brands at always affordable prices . Over the years, Eurospin has spread throughout Italy and neighboring Slovenia with more than a thousand points of sale. Eurospin's network not only covers the most densely populated areas, but also strives to bring its offer to small communities. After almost three decades, Eurospin is still committed to keeping its prices low and its products high quality. Realising a revenue of US$7 Billion in 2019. Click here for more: https://www.24sata.hr/news/eurospin-stize-u-hrvatsku-707678

The privately owned German Discount Food Retail Chain NORMA is continuing its aid program for regional partners all over Germany and will for the time being waive the contractually agreed payment term and thereby pay its bills even faster due to the ongoing Corona crisis, as the company reports. The Nuremberg company had already announced at the end of April - at the height of the pandemic - that it would be helping the small suppliers in this way financially. To date, far more than $170 million have arrived where the money is most urgently needed - for small companies that often have a long-standing and close relationship with NORMA. Around 300 local suppliers in the different German regions already benefited directly from the move. In order to ensure that financial security is also guaranteed, the food retailer expanded its already close cooperation with the regional partners in addition to foregoing the payment target. NORMA is active in Germany, France, Austria and Czech republic, with over 1,450 stores and a revenues of about $4.5 billion (2019). Click here for more: https://www.fruchtportal.de/artikel/norma-verlngert-hilfsprogramm-fr-ber-300-regionale-partner-in-der-corona-krise/045021?i=79561388

Large hypermarkets cannot withstand the competition from Discount Retail Chains such as Biedronki and Lidl. First, Real, recently Tesco and now Auchan is cutting its stores. Who will be next - Carrefour and Leclerc? Auchan Retail Polska has announced that it is closing two more stores, this time in Grudziądz and Lubin. The stores will be closed for customers on September 27 this year. The stores in Grudziądz and Lubin are store three and four Auchan closes in Poland. At the end of June, Auchan made a historic decision to close the first two stores in Poland in Dąbrowa Górnicza and Mysłowice. Both giant hypermarkets - the first one has a salesplot of ​​almost 15,000 m2, the second almost 20,000m2. - will close on August 30. Real has moved a pebble, now an avalanche is starting The first hypermarket chain to operate in Poland was Real (as part of Metro Group), operating since 1995. Do you remember who took over some of the stores from Metro Group when the Real adventure ended in Poland? It was Auchan. When Tesco announced in mid-June that it was withdrawing from Poland, and a moment later the French decided to close their first two stores, the collapse of more hypermarkets was just a matter of time. Hypermarkets selling soap and jam, but are often located on the outskirts of cities, have lost their raison d'être, because each hypermarket retail estate has grown up to 20-30 times the size of Discount Retail Chains such as Biedronki and Lidl. It is expected that this is not the end of cleaning up at Auchan and soon more hypermarkets will be closed, such as Carrefour and Leclerc in Poland. Click here for more: https://spidersweb.pl/bizblog/auchan-likwiduje-sklepy/

Discount Retail Chain Biedronka Poland delivered a strong performance with solid sales and EBITDA growth. Discount Retail Chain Ara Colombia was heavily impacted by the lockdown restrictions still in force. Both Discount Retail Chains are owned by the listed Portuguese retailer Jeronomo Martins. In Poland, consumers, although more restrained than before the pandemic, remained responsive to strong value proposals that combine good quality and a competitive price. The country's food inflation went from 7.7% in the Q1 to 6.4% in the Q2. The gap between Biedronka’s basket inflation and the country’s food inflation was more pronounced in the second quarter of the year. Biedronka adapted swiftly to the market conditions in April and May. It extended opening hours and implemented an assertive commercial strategy. In euro terms, Biedronka sales in H1 grew 7.8% to €6.5B (+3.4% to €3.3 bn in Q2). In the six-month period, Biedronka opened 34 new locations (29 net additions) and carried out 71 remodellings. Although the construction of new stores was suspended at the beginning of the pandemic, Biedronka finalized all the projects it had already started. Since the end of May, the company resumed the implementation of the projects in its pipeline. In Colombia, the year began with a favourable economic environment. Discount Retail Chain Ara’s performance has been greatly impacted since April by the containment measures related to the pandemic. These measures remained in force throughout the quarter and were extended until the end July. In euro terms, sales increased by 18.8% to €423M. Despite the challenging environment, Q2 sales grew by 0.5% in euros with LFL of 1.1%. The company was strongly impacted by mandatory closures that resulted in a 30% reduction in trading hours. The banner opened 23 stores in the sixmonth period (15 net additions). The company has resumed the implementation of new projects in its pipeline at the end of Q2. However, the pace of the expansion is very slow due to the restrictive measures imposed on the construction sector in response to the sanitary crisis. Discount Retail Chain Biedronka recorded EBITDA of €589 mn, an increase of 5.1% (+8.1% at constant exchange rate). The EBITDA margin was 9.0% versus 9.2% in the same period of last year. The discounter, with a reinforced cost discipline and solid sales growth, has managed to mitigate the impact of the increased costs of running the operation in the context of the pandemic while maintaining a relevant promotional dynamic and investing in the attractiveness of its proposal. Discount Retail Chain Ara, after the very strong start of the year, operated in a context heavily impacted by the pandemic in Colombia, particularly in the last three months of the period. In H1 20, the discounter recorded a reduction in EBITDA losses from €20M in H1 19 to €19M in H1 20, which also reflects the devaluation of the Colombian peso. In Q2, with the significant slowdown in LFL growth not allowing for cost dilution and the weight of additional costs to manage the operation safely in the context of COVID-19 and of the restriction in place, there was an increase in losses generated at EBITDA level to €-16 mn from €-8 mn in Q2 19. Click here for more: https://www.jeronimomartins.com/wp-content/uploads/com/2020/EN/ResultsH12020.pdf

Discount Retail Chain Aldi U.S. will build a new regional headquarters and distribution center in Loxley, AL to support the company’s growing footprint along the Gulf Coast. The retailer purchased 160 acres in Loxley’s industrial and warehousing district, north of I-10 exit 44. The 564,000-square-foot (equal to 172,000 square meter) facility will bring approximately $100 million in capital investment and create 200 jobs for Loxley and Baldwin County. Construction is scheduled to begin in early 2021. The expansion will be the grocery retailer’s first step into Baldwin County, but not in Alabama. Aldi currently operates 30 stores across Alabama, with a mission to provide a faster, easier and smarter way to save money on high-quality groceries and more. ALDI is known for its value-driven approach to grocery shopping, mostly selling items under its own brands direct from the pallet. “We are ready to bring the Aldi difference to new markets in Alabama, like Baldwin County,” said Dan Gavin, Aldi’s Vice President of Real Estate. “We’re ramping up our expansion plans to meet the growing demand along the Gulf Coast.” “We are proud that Aldi has selected Loxley for this monumental investment,” said Richard Teal, mayor of Loxley. “Bringing a regional headquarters is great for Loxley, Baldwin County and Alabama.” The Discount Food Retail chain operates 180 stores in Florida and Alabama and more than 2,000 total across 36 states. The new Loxley regional headquarters and distribution center will serve new Aldi stores in southern Alabama, Louisiana and throughout the Florida panhandle, serving 8 mio customers. Aldi plans to open 70 new stores by the end of the year across its entire footprint, which puts the company on pace to become the third-largest U.S. grocer by store count by the end of 2022. Aldi plans to begin operations at its Loxley facility by the end of 2022. Click here for more: https://eu.pnj.com/story/news/2020/07/21/aldi-build-distribution-center-nearby-baldwin-county-alabama/5480528002/