NEWS ShopTalk M


arks & Spencer has revealed a further 25 stores are to close amid its sweeping


overhaul of the estate as it posted a 10% drop in annual profits.


five new cities this year – Glasgow, Newcastle, Liverpool, Sheffield and Portsmouth – and the service will be expanded to further cities in future. Currently, Amazon only sells Morrisons groceries for same-day delivery to subscribers to its Prime Now service in Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and parts of London and the home counties.


The retailer said it is closing 85 full-line stores in the coming financial year along with 25 Simply Food outlets, on top of the 35 full-line branches closed in 2018- 19 under a previously announced restructure.


However, it said the overall size of the chain will remain in line with plans as it also opens and relocates shops, having launched a further 48 outlets across the UK including a food store in Oban, Scotland in the past financial year.


In total, 75 new premises will have opened by the end of the process. Marks & Spencer said the food closures come as it focuses efforts on larger Simply Food shops with parking access, which will mean shutting and relocating smaller, less busy outlets.


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mazon is ramping up the pressure on the UK’s traditional food retailers after signing a deal with Morrisons to deliver groceries across the UK.


Morrisons’ groceries will be available for same-day delivery in


6 July 2019


The deal deepens Amazon’s relationship with Morrisons, which started just over three years ago when the Bradford-based supermarket first agreed to provide groceries to the US online specialist. It comes after Morrisons rejigged its relationship with the online grocery specialist Ocado, which handles deliveries for the Morrisons. com website.


The deal enabled Morrisons to sell directly online through other platforms, including Amazon and Deliveroo, and to use other partners to deliver goods from Morrisons.com.


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celand will open 50 new stores across the UK this year as the frozen food supermarket chain unveiled plans to tackle competition from discounters Aldi and Lidl.


year. The new stores set to open will include 34 branches of The Food Warehouse, where customers can buy in bulk.


So far this year, Iceland has opened new branches in Bargoed, Chesterfield, Grantham, Rawtenstall, Fox Valley Sheffield, Coventry and Craigavon. The exact locations for the remaining new stores are yet to be unveiled.


News of the expansion comes despite Iceland having reported a decline in full-year profits, with the company confirming it was facing “savagely competitive” trading conditions.


Iceland posted adjusted earnings before tax of £140.1m in the 52 weeks to March 29, down 8.7% on the previous year. Sales were up 4.5% to £3.08bn.


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aitrose has announced plans to improve and raise the profile of its in-store


service counters, in order to enable it to stand out from its competitors. The retailer is launching a pilot programme to raise the expertise of all employees working on their service counters to an even higher level, providing training for a more personalised service with more customisation of meat joints for individual customers.


The food giant said it had already opened 14 shops so far since the beginning of the current financial


Charcutiers will receive further training for selected stores testing a new deli range, while a cheesemonger programme is also underway. “Service counters are the jewel in our crown; they give us a unique opportunity to offer our customers an outstanding level of service, whether


they are looking for something special, personalised or with less packaging,” said Simon Burdess, director of food service at Waitrose.


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erman supermarket Lidl will submit a planning application this month to build a new store on land off Dagenham’s Whalebone Lane South, which is currently the site of a Texaco petrol station.


The 0.44-hectare site is located south of Chadwell Heath and adjacent to a residential area in Rosemary Gardens and the Robert Clack Lower School playing fields.


Lidl says the new store will create around 40 full-time and part-time jobs. Plans include a dedicated in- store bakery and 58 parking spaces. Lidl UK’s regional head of property, Oliver Barrett, said: “We are extremely excited about the prospect of opening a new Lidl store in Dagenham and serving our fresh, quality and incredibly good value produce which shoppers across the country have come to love.” An online petition in support of the planning application has also been set up. There are currently Lidl stores on Heathway and Longbridge Road in Dagenham, another at Grove Farm Retail Park in Chadwell Heath and one on Atlanta Boulevard in Romford.


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