Supermarket/Grocery

Regional grocery chain Southeastern Grocers has agreed to sell 29 BI-LO stores to another regional grocery chain: K-VA-T Food Stores.

K-VA-T says it intends to continue to operate all of these stores under the Food City banner and hire the vast majority of their store associates, retaining their years of service.

Abingdon, Va. - K-VA-T Food Stores Inc. is expanding in Tennessee and Georgia. K-VA-T, parent company of the Food City supermarket chain, will acquire 29 Bi-Lo stores located in Chattanooga, Tennessee and Northwest Georgia from Southeastern Grocers.    K-VA-T intends to continue to operate all of these stores under the Food City banner and hire the vast majority of their store associates.  

Brampton, Canada – Loblaw Companies Ltd. swung from loss to profit in the second quarter of fiscal 2015, but still plans to improve profitability even more. Loblaw reported net income of $185 million, compared to a net loss of $456 million the same period a year earlier.  

Walmart wants to advance its long-term growth prospects in China and has acquired full ownership of an e-commerce company in which it already held a majority stake to further that objective.

Bentonville, Ark. – Busy moms who need tooth wipes, or maybe more well-known baby items, have a new resource in Wal-Mart. In a post on the official Wal-Mart blog, Diana Marhsall, VP of baby for Wal-Mart U.S., says the retailer is expanding the products and services for moms (or anyone else) shopping for baby needs.  

Canada's biggest food retailer Loblaw announced it plans to close 52 unprofitable stores over the next year at the same time the company reported lackluster second quarter financial results.

Loblaw Companies has more than 2,300 stores, including Loblaws, Provigo, and Extra Foods. It also owns Shoppers Drug Mart. 

Smart & Final says it's focused on growth and expansion of its new Extra! format as the retailer posts another quarter of impressive same store sales.

For the second quarter ended June 14, Smart & Final said net sales increased 9.3% to $905.1 million. Same store sales incraesed 3.5%. The company had net income of $11.0 million, or $0.14 per diluted share. And adjusted EBITDA increased 6.7% to $50.7 million. 

Sidney, Neb. – Specialty outdoor retailer Cabela’s Inc. missed the target Wall Street set for profit and revenue during the second quarter of fiscal 2015. Cabela’s reported net income of $40.5 million, down 8% from $43.5 million the same quarter the prior year.   Growing cost of revenue helped drive down profit. Total revenue grew 10% to $836.28 million, from $761.2 million. Consolidated same-store sales dropped 0.9% due to Canadian currency fluctuations, although same-store sales in the U.S. increased 0.8%.