Supermarket/Grocery

Whole Foods Market is feeling the impact of increased competition by mainstream supermarkets.   The retailer is slowing down its rate of opening new stores, reported the Austin Business Journal, and no longer has a goal of 1,200-plus stores.    

CVS Health on Thursday reported record fiscal fourth-quarter and full-year 2016 results   Net revenues for the three months ended Dec. 31 increased 11.7% to $46 billion, up from $41.1 billion in the year ago period.  

Target soon won’t be the only discounter to feature an in-store Chobani Cafe.    The popular Greek yogurt brand will open a 2,000-sq-.ft. café at Walmart’s new supercenter in the Houston suburb of Tomball, reported the Houston Business Journal. The store is scheduled to open on Feb. 15.  

Dollar General has unveiled its smaller-store concept, called DGX, in Nashville, Tennessee. A second location is set to open in Raleigh, North Carolina.    The new store, which features 3,400 sq. ft. of selling space, is designed to serve urban shoppers in a convenient, easy-to-shop format. The merchandise mix is geared toward instant consumption and includes a beverage bar, coffee station and grab-and-go sandwiches.  

Whole Foods Market, which is known for its premier shopping experience and customer service, wants to up the ante — especially among loyal shoppers.    By partnering with global customer science company dunnhumby, the natural foods grocer will use customer data and insights to evolve its category management and merchandising efforts. Specifically, the chain will apply customer data models, science, and industry-leading processes to make store-level merchandising decisions based on specific customer needs.  

Whole Foods Market on Wednesday reported a disappointing first quarter and also lowered full-year sales and earnings guidance.    Net income was $95 million for the quarter ended Jan. 15. The company earned an adjusted 39 cents a share during the quarter, in line with estimates.   Total sales in the quarter increased 1.9% to $4.9 billion, less than the Street expected.    

Dollar General isn’t boasting when it calls itself one of America’s fastest-growing retailers.    The extreme-value discounter will open 1,000 stores and two distribution centers in 2017, resulting    In the creation of approximately 10,000 new jobs. The announcement comes as Dollar General is testing a new, smaller-store format under a new banner.   

Discount grocer Aldi is not about to let any new competitors — home-grown or fellow German imports — get the best of it.    The retailer has announced an aggressive $1.6 billion investment in its stores, with plans to remodel and expand more than 1,300 of its locations by 2020. The announcement comes as competition heats up in the value grocery segment, which is bracing itself for the entry of Germany’s Lidl. At the same, Whole Foods Market continues to expand its new, less pricey format, 365 by Whole Foods.

Target Corp. leads other retailers when it comes to reaching and attracting qualified talent.    The discounter ranked the highest (at No. 26) among Fortune 500 retail-ers for employment branding in a study by global talent solutions com-pany WilsonHCG. Target was followed by Publix (No. 42), The Home Depot (No. 50), Walmart (No. 64), Nordstrom (No. 77) and Whole Foods Market (No. 115). No retailer cracked the top 10, which was led by Gen-eral Electric, Johnson & Johnson and AT&T.       

Within the next decade, online food shopping will reach maturation in the U.S., far faster than other industries that have come online before.   At least that’s according to the “Digitally Engaged Food Shopper,” a report from the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) and Nielsen that takes a comprehensive look into the behaviors, motivations and expectations of the digitally-engaged food shopper.