August's top stories
1. Sobeys launches South Asian store
Last Thursday, Sobeys opened a South Asian-focused discount supermarket called Chalo FreshCo in Brampton, Ont.
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2. Kraft Heinz slashing 2,500 jobs in Canada, U.S.
Earlier this month, Kraft Heinz announced it is cutting about 2,500 jobs as part of its plan to slash costs after the food companies combined. About 700 of the cuts were coming in Northfield, Ill., where Kraft had been headquartered.
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3. 5 cities getting Whole Foods' newest chain
Earlier this summer, Whole Foods announced plans to open a new chain of smaller stores with lower prices. Whole Foods is following through with its plans, having announced the locations of the first five stores.
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4. Toronto company revolutionizes coupon cutting
Since its launch in 2013, mobile coupon app Coupgon has increased its presence to about 800 stores across Canada. Canadian Grocer spoke to Sinead Archbold, vice-president, operations at Coupgon about the growth.
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5. Historic Loblaw warehouse gets a makeover
The historic Loblaw Groceterias building in downtown Toronto is being restored to include retail shops, office space, residential towers and a 50,000-sq.-ft. Loblaw store.
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6. Walmart puts its fresh foot forward
In May, Walmart revamped the grocery departments in all of its 280 Canadian supercentres to carry a larger assortment of fresh and more premium product.
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7. Farm Boy sets up shop in Greater Toronto Area
Ontario fresh grocer Farm Boy opened its latest store Thursday in the Toronto suburb of Whitby, with notable features including a mix-and-match coffee pod section, and an oven that cooks made-from-scratch pizzas in two minutes.
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8. In low-growth economy, Walmart Canada's sales still move up
Canada proved to be a bright spot for Walmart in its second-quarter earnings report. Canada was one of only two key international businesses to see decent gains in sales, traffic and comparable-store sales during the quarter.
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9. Heroes of the supermarket
Store managers don't have the power they once did. But thats starting to change.
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10. Who's afraid of Walmart? Not Metro
Consumers remain “very value-conscious, very fickle,” which is keeping the Ontario and Quebec grocery markets highly competitive and promotional, said Metro president and CEO Eric La Flèche at the retailer's latest quarterly results.
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