Daily Archives: July 10, 2017

Posted on by

Premiala Announces Restocking of its Meat Injector in UK, Germany, Italy and France

LONDON, United Kingdom, 2017-Jul-10 — /EPR Retail News/ — Premiala BBQ and Kitchenware today announced its stainless steel meat injector is once more available for purchase on Amazon Germany, as well as at Amazon UK, Amazon Italy and Amazon France. The announcement follows a month of stock unavailability on all markets.

“We’re thrilled to be able to offer the Premiala Meat Injector again to our valued European buyers”, General Manager Greg Carder reported today. “As this product continues to grow in popularity we are scaling our production facilities while ensuring the quality remains at the point we expect – and due to the labour-intesive processes in creating such a high quality product there are limits to how much we can scale. We thank those who contacted us during this time seeking advice on its projected availability for their patience.”

The company reported sales have been strong in the days since it returned to the market.

The Premiala Meat Injector is a kitchen tool designed for injecting brine, marinade and other liquids into meats. It can also be used for injecting jam, cream or custard into donuts or other sweetmeats. Premiala’s claim to fame with its Meat Injector is that it is the only unit on the market using food-safe 304-grade stainless steel for all the product’s components which come into contact with food, thereby guaranteeing maximum food safety.

More information about the Meat Injector is available from the manufacturer’s website.

 

About Premiala BBQ and Kitchenware: Premiala BBQ and Kitchenware provides premium quality BBQ and kitchen tools to home and professional users.  It believes better health and well-being can be achieved by using premium tools, by providing superior results and greater user satisfaction while working.

Contact:

Greg Carder
General Manager
Premiala Ltd

enquiries@premiala.com

http://premiala.com

Posted on by

Watsons launches Brand Refresh Campaign; introduces brand-new store team uniforms

Hong Kong, 2017-Jul-10 — /EPR Retail News/ — At Watsons, we always make customers “LOOK GOOD, FEEL GREAT”. The brand has launched a Brand Refresh Campaign throughout 12 operating markets across Asia and Eastern Europe. The best way to live the “Look Good, Feel Great” brand value is to start with our employees, therefore Watsons evolves by introducing brand-new store team uniforms which help project a young, energetic and stylish brand image.

Emily Wong, Regional Marketing Director of Health & Beauty Asia said, “To move the brand with times and build more interactions with our young customers, we have launched a Brand Refresh Campaign to convey a sense of youth and vitality and offer refreshing online and offline shopping experience. A set of brand-new uniforms has been introduced to kick start the campaign.”

Nurture Local Talents

In recent years, Watsons has endeavored to attract more and more young customers to shop with us. To make them look good and feel great, our store team plays an important role as they are representing Watsons to interact and communicate with our customers.

To drive more new ideas on uniform design, we teamed up with the Institute of Textiles and Clothing of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, to organise a uniform design competition and help design a set of youthful and refreshing uniform for our store team. The competition opened to all students from Institute of Textile and Clothing, which enables young student designers to put their knowledge into practice, gain valuable experience as well as international exposure.

Listen to Our Employees

As an international brand with global business presence, the choice of uniform fabrics and designs has to fit the needs of our teams in different regions. For instance, due to the hot and humid weather in Hong Kong and other countries in Southeast Asia, the uniform fabrics should be thin and breathable. To help students understand the needs of store in 12 Watsons markets and learn to apply their knowledge into real-world situations, they were offered a chance to get in touch with store team in person and listen to their preferences and opinions. Their task was to design stylish yet comfortable uniforms which enhances our image and makes our store team looks smart and help provide quality and professional services to our customers. Watsons strongly believes that listening to our employees is one of the key element for them to build stronger bonding with the company and commit to provide better service to our customers.

Uniform Turns Stylish!

After a rigorous selection process, Sharon Yeung stood out among all creative designs and became the winner. She explained, “Each and every detail adds up to a good retail brand experience. When designing the uniform, I paid meticulous attention to every detail of it. The uniform design is suitable for daily operation works (such as stocking shelves) plus a touch of fashion, for example, the new store manager uniform carries with delicate and subtle details on the collar. The slim-fit design makes them look younger and more confident.”

New Watsons uniforms help build a young and professional image for our store team while addressing their daily practical needs. Our beauty advisors uniform comes with a makeup bag which lets them put all beauty accessories and provide make up and beauty advices to our customers at convenience. For our Health and Fitness Advisor uniform, it has a touch of lime green on the usual medical white colour.

In Watsons Brand Refresh Campaign, we started by bringing new look to our store team and giving fresh and energising experiences to our customers. There are more to come to excite our customers.

Contact:
Tel: +852 2606 8833
Fax: +852 2690 2836
Email: grouppr@aswatson.com

Source: A.S. Watson Group

###

Posted on by

McAlister’s Deli® adds Lemonade Tea to its beverage menu just in time for the hottest month of the year

New beverage combines the fast-casual restaurant’s famous tea with a tart, summertime staple

ATLANTA, GA., 2017-Jul-10 — /EPR Retail News/ — Fresh off the heels of National Iced Tea Month, McAlister’s Deli® today (July 5, 2017) added a new offering to its popular beverage menu just in time for the hottest month of the year. Combining two made-with Pure Cane Sugar beverage favorites, Lemonade Tea is a blend of freshly brewed McAlister’s Famous Tea™ and Lemonade, quenching the thirst of guests across the restaurant brand’s more than 400 locations. Served in a 32-ounce glass over crystal clear ice, McAlister’s tea is a labor of love, steeped with Rainforest Alliance Certified™ premium tea leaves and served with its famous red straw. The addition of Pure Cane Sugar Lemonade provides guests a refreshing, year-round beverage alternative without having to sacrifice their beloved tea.

“Our Lemonade Tea is the perfect pairing, allowing guests the opportunity to continue enjoying our famous tea with a vibrant, new twist,” said Paul Macaluso, president of McAlister’s Deli. “This launch solidifies our commitment to beverage innovation, while complementing a variety of our menu options, including our fresh, seasonal offerings.”

Along with Lemonade Tea, McAlister’s is introducing a seasonal, limited time sandwich offering adding more fresh flavor to its menu. The BLT+A features Applewood smoked bacon, fresh assorted greens, thick sliced tomato and avocado seasoned with salt and pepper, all topped with herb mayo and served on toasted country white bread. The new sandwich adds to the wholesome, made-to-order menu options that boast fresh, high-quality ingredients and will be available as a full sandwich or half when part of McAlister’s Choose 2 option

For more information and to stay updated on the latest news, please visit McAlistersDeli.com and connect with McAlister’s on Facebook.com/TeaFreaks and Twitter and Instagram at @McAlistersDeli.

About McAlister’s
Founded in 1989, McAlister’s Deli® is a fast casual restaurant chain known for its genuine hospitality, sandwiches, spuds, soups, salads, desserts and McAlister’s Famous Sweet Tea™. In addition to dine-in and take-out service, McAlister’s also offers catering with a selection of sandwich trays, box lunches, desserts, a hot spud bar and more. With numerous industry accolades, the McAlister’s brand has more than 400 restaurants in 29 states. The company is headquartered in Atlanta, Ga. For more information, visit www.mcalistersdeli.com, and find McAlister’s on social media at www.Facebook.com/TeaFreaks, www.Twitter.com/McAlistersDeli and www.Instagram.com/McAlistersDeli.

Source: McAlister’s Deli

Posted on by

NRF: Retail industry employment in June gained 7,400 jobs over May

WASHINGTON, 2017-Jul-10 — /EPR Retail News/ — Retail industry employment turned a corner in June, gaining 7,400 jobs over May, the National Retail Federation said today (July 7, 2017). The retail numbers exclude automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants. The economy overall saw gains of 222,000 jobs in June, far exceeding growth expectations for the month.

“The gain in June shows that the industry is still very much meeting the demands of consumers and households,” NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz said. “While one month does not make a trend, retailers are working through a transformative time and gearing up for back-to-school and the not-too-distant winter holiday season.”

Average hourly earnings in June showed a slight gain of 2.5 percent year-over-year, compared with 2.4 percent in May.

On a three-month average, retail jobs have decreased by 2,200 fewer jobs as calculated by NRF. On a year-over-year basis seasonally adjusted, retail jobs have decreased by 32,900 positions.

The retail sector saw mixed results in business lines in June with general merchandise that includes department stores registering a 12,200-job gain. This gain was offset by declines in the clothing segments and health and personal care, which lost a combined 12,600 jobs.

The Labor Department said June unemployment was at 4.4 percent, up from 4.3 percent in May.

About NRF
NRF is the world’s largest retail trade association, representing discount and department stores, home goods and specialty stores, Main Street merchants, grocers, wholesalers, chain restaurants and internet retailers from the United States and more than 45 countries. Retail is the nation’s largest private sector employer, supporting one in four U.S. jobs – 42 million working Americans. Contributing $2.6 trillion to annual GDP, retail is a daily barometer for the nation’s economy.

Contact:

Treacy Reynolds
press@nrf.com
(855) NRF-Press

Source: NRF

Posted on by

Carrefour announces its first vertical garden at Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois hypermarket

Boulogne-Billancourt, France, 2017-Jul-10 — /EPR Retail News/ — Carrefour is committed to urban agriculture and is continuing to open urban gardens located near its stores. In Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois, the famous “first hypermarket in France”, which opened in 1963, is breaking new ground by hosting the first vertical garden cultivated using the aeroponics process.

In the store, ultra-fresh fruit and vegetables picked when they are ripe, without the need to be transported
Designed and managed by Agripolis, a Paris region-based start-up company involved in growing fruit and vegetables without synthetic pesticides and then marketing them via short distribution channels, the 300-sq.m. garden is in the car park next to the Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Carrefour hypermarket. The products then go on sale to customers in the store’s fruit and vegetable section straight after being harvested. The innovation lies in the way in which the gardens are grown in columns. The plants themselves are fed using nutrients that are allowed in organic farming. The fact that they are grown outside of the ground and arranged in a particular way protects them against disease and attacks from pests.

Available in the store in June
Gariguette, Cijosée and Charlotte variety strawberries, €3.90 for 250 g Cucumbers, Webb lettuce, bunches of aromatic herbs €1.10 each

A new milestone in developing urban agriculture
In April 2017, Carrefour opened the first garden on the roof of the Villiersen-Bière hypermarket car park (in the Paris region), in partnership with the Bougainville de Brie-Comte-Robert farming college. Fruit, vegetables and seasonal aromatic herbs grown in trays of earth in accordance with agro-ecological methods are then sold over the store’s 1200 sq.m. of sales area. Another garden managed by Agripolis will soon be opened. Located on the roof of the Carrefour France head office in Massy (in the Paris region), its produce will be sold in the Market store which is scheduled to open opposite the head office in September 2017. In Mérignac (south-west France), another type of urban garden project is being created over a 6000 sq.m. area near the Carrefour store. Each of these projects involves the expertise of local producers and stakeholders.

Better food quality
This initiative to develop urban agriculture is in line with Carrefour’s policy to improve food quality and is part of its commitment to preserve the planet’s biodiversity. By developing short-distribution channels for its products – 60,000 local products are already on sale in its stores – Carrefour is helping to reduce CO2 emissions and tackle food wastage.

For all request about the Carrefour Group (sales, financial results, governance, international,…), please contact the Carrefour Group media relations office:

. By phone:

Switchboard: +33 (0)1 41 04 26 00

For journalists: +33 (0)1 41 04 26 17

. By e-mail: presse_groupe@

Source: Carrefour Group

Posted on by

Amazon.com to open new fulfillment center in Orlando, Florida in 2018

SEATTLE, 2017-Jul-10 — /EPR Retail News/ — Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced plans to open a new fulfillment center in Orlando, Fla. When the site opens in 2018, Amazon will create 1,500 new full-time jobs with benefits and opportunities to engage with Amazon Robotics in a highly technological workplace.

“We are excited to join the Orlando community, creating more than 1,500 full-time jobs at our new fulfillment center,” said Akash Chauhan, Amazon’s vice president of North America operations. “We very much appreciate the state and local elected leaders who have supported Amazon’s arrival in Orlando and we look forward to bringing more jobs and investment to the state in the coming months.”

Amazon employees at the more than 850,000 square-foot fulfillment center located at Lake Nona will pick, pack and ship small items to customers like books, electronics or consumer goods.

“I am proud that Amazon has chosen the Orlando area as the best location for their new fulfillment center. Amazon is already a major job creator in Florida, and we’re proud that they are continuing to invest in our state and create new opportunities for our families,” said Governor Rick Scott. “Today’s announcement is a reminder of the important role of Enterprise Florida and local economic development agencies who have worked to market our state so we can out compete other locations for these major jobs wins.”

Amazon has created more than 4,000 full-time jobs in Florida since building its first fulfillment center in the state in 2013. The new fulfillment center will bring Amazon’s workforce in the Sunshine State to more than 9,000.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Amazon to Central Florida, and look forward to this legendary innovator becoming a part of our community,” said Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs. “We’ve worked hard to expedite permitting and other County functions in order to get this new type of fulfillment distribution center – including Amazon Robotics and a significant investment in technology – up and running. This is a huge win for Central Florida and a wonderful opportunity for our entire community, including the 1,500 employees who will join the Amazon team and all those who will benefit from Amazon’s well-known commitment to the local community.”

Full-time employees at Amazon receive highly-competitive pay, health insurance, disability insurance, retirement savings plans and company stock. The company also offers up to 20 weeks of maternal and parental paid leave and innovative benefits such as Leave Share and Ramp Back, which give new parents flexibility with their growing families.

“Florida’s business climate continues to beat out other states, and we are proud to see Amazon choose the Orlando area for a new fulfillment center,” said Mike Grisson, interim president and CEO of Enterprise Florida. “The workforce, infrastructure and overall business friendliness in Florida lead the nation and this is apparent as our economy continues to grow.”

Amazon also offers full-time employees innovative programs like Career Choice, where the company will pre-pay up to 95 percent of tuition for courses related to in-demand fields, regardless of whether the skills are relevant to a career at Amazon. Since the program’s launch, over 10,000 employees have pursued degrees in game design and visual communications, nursing, IT programming and radiology, to name a few.

“Amazon’s decision to select Orlando for its next major investment is a tremendous win for the Orlando region,” said Tim Giuliani, president and CEO of the Orlando Economic Partnership. “It says a lot about our status as a major employment hub in the United States when a global leader in ecommerce chooses to add more than 1,500 new jobs in our community. Amazon is also a great addition to our region with programs that provide full benefits to employees while also encouraging workers to further their education and improve their skills through a tuition reimbursement incentive.”

To learn more about working at an Amazon fulfillment center, visit amazondelivers.jobs.

The project is being developed in a partnership between Seefried Industrial Properties and an affiliate of USAA Real Estate Company. Tavistock Development Company entitled and sold the property, and will develop the infrastructure for the project.

About Amazon

Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.

Media Hotline:
Amazon-pr@amazon.com
www.amazon.com/pr

Source: Amazon.com, Inc.

Posted on by

SSP opens Leon and bar concept Cabin at London Paddington station

SSP opens Leon and bar concept Cabin at London Paddington station

 

London, 2017-Jul-10 — /EPR Retail News/ — SSP Group plc, a leading operator of food and beverage outlets in travel locations worldwide, has opened a new restaurant and a new bar at London Paddington station.

The new units are healthy eating brand Leon and bar concept Cabin. The Leon outlet measures 2,700 square feet, and is the second Leon outlet to be opened by SSP. The Cabin, which extends over 2,300 square feet, is SSP’s own concept and has already proven highly popular at other locations such as Waterloo station as well as Manchester, Stansted, Bristol and Newcastle airports.The new developments are located on the balcony, a seating area that overlooks the concourse in the area known as ‘the lawn’.

Simon Smith, CEO of SSP UK said; “We are delighted to be opening these two new outlets at London Paddington – one of London’s busiest stations. The addition of these brands will enhance the offering available to passengers at the station, giving commuters and tourists alike more options of where to grab a bite to eat before boarding their train, and will serve as a great place for people who live and work in the area to have a lunch time snack or an after-work drink.”

Hamish Kiernan, commercial director of retail for Network Rail Property, said; “The new additions from SSP into the rejuvenated Paddington Lawn help bolster both our daytime and evening offer. This historic station gives commuters a high-quality customer experience, meaning it is no longer just a place for travel, but a place where people choose to shop, meet and eat.”

John Vincent, Leon co-founder and chief executive said; “We have always said we want to be there when people need us, and travelling makes you tired and hungry. Paddington travellers can now leave their marmalade sandwiches at home and fill up with tasty Leon food instead.”

If you are a journalist and have a press enquiry, please call Templemere Public Relations on +44 (0) 1306 735574 or press.office@ssp-intl.com

Source: SSP Group

###

Posted on by

Sears Holdings amends its existing Second Lien Credit Facility dated September 1, 2016

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., 2017-Jul-10 — /EPR Retail News/ — Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) today (July 7, 2017) announced that it has entered into an amendment to its existing Second Lien Credit Facility dated September 1, 2016.  The amended credit facility provides an uncommitted line of credit facility (the “Line of Credit Facility”) under which subsidiaries of the Company may from time to time borrow line of credit loans (“Line of Credit Loans”), subject to applicable borrowing base limitations, in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $500 million at any time outstanding. Individual Line of Credit Loans under the Line of Credit Facility are expected to have maturities of up to 179 days and will be on pricing and other terms to be agreed with the lenders that are or become party to the Second Lien Credit Facility. Mr. Edward S. Lampert, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, is the sole stockholder, chief executive officer and director of ESL Investments, Inc. (“ESL”), which controls the Agent under the Line of Credit Facility.  ESL has indicated that it is considering participating in the Line of Credit Facility as a lender, but ESL is under no obligation to do so. The Company intends to discuss additional Line of Credit Facility advances with additional lenders from time to time.

“This facility is intended to provide the Company with the flexibility to generate additional liquidity on an as-needed basis. Any extensions of credit under this facility are collateralized by a second lien on certain of our inventory, receivables and related assets. This adjustment to our capital structure demonstrates that Sears Holdings will continue to take actions to generate liquidity and manage our business while meeting all of our financial obligations,” said Rob Riecker, Sears Holdings’ Chief Financial Officer.

Additionally, in June the Company closed on over $200 million of real estate transactions, which resulted in a paydown of the April 2016 Real Estate Loan from $500 million to $347 million. These actions also increased availability under the short term borrowing basket in the Company’s ABL credit facility, pursuant to which the Company can raise up to $1.0 billion in loans that can mature within the June 2020 ABL maturity. After the partial loan repayment, the real estate loan will be utilizing approximately $350 million of the $1.0 billion basket compared to $500 million previously.  Additional net proceeds of $57 million from the real estate transactions were used to reduce the outstanding balance on our revolving credit facility.

The terms of the Line of Credit Facility and, to the extent funded by ESL, the initial Line of Credit Loans were approved by the Related Party Transactions Subcommittee of the Board of Directors of the Company, with advice from Centerview Partners and Weil Gotshal & Manges, the Subcommittee’s outside financial and legal advisors.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, statements about our transformation through our integrated retail strategy, our plans to redeploy and reconfigure our assets, our liquidity, our ability to borrow under the Line of Credit Facility, which is uncommitted, and our ability to exercise financial flexibility as we meet our obligations. Whenever used, words such as “will,” “intend,” “expect,” and other terms of similar meaning are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements, including these, are based on the current beliefs and expectations of our management and are subject to significant risks, assumptions and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company’s control, that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Detailed descriptions of risks, uncertainties and factors relating to Sears Holdings are discussed in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. While we believe that our forecasts and assumptions are reasonable, we caution that actual results may differ materially. We intend the forward-looking statements to speak only as of the time made and do not undertake to update or revise them as more information becomes available, except as required by law.

About Sears Holdings Corporation
Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) is a leading integrated retailer focused on seamlessly connecting the digital and physical shopping experiences to serve our members – wherever, whenever and however they want to shop. Sears Holdings is home to Shop Your Way®, a social shopping platform offering members rewards for shopping at Sears and Kmart as well as with other retail partners across categories important to them. The company operates through its subsidiaries, including Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Kmart Corporation, with full-line and specialty retail stores across the United States. For more information, visit www.searsholdings.com.

NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:
Sears Holdings Public Relations
(847) 286-8371

SOURCE: Sears Holdings Corporation

Posted on by

Al-Futtaim Motors supports Dubai Police in promoting road safety and educating motorists on summer-related accident causes

Al-Futtaim Motors supports Dubai Police in promoting road safety and educating motorists on summer-related accident causes

 

Dubai, UAE, 2017-Jul-10 — /EPR Retail News/ — Al-Futtaim Motors, leader in sustainable mobility and exclusive distributor of Toyota and Lexus, in the UAE, has announced its official sponsorship of Dubai Police’s participation in the Ministry of Interior’s “Summer Without Accidents” campaign aiming at promoting road safety among residents in the UAE and educating motorists on summer-related accident causes.

Yousuf Al Raeesi, Director of Government Affairs at Al-Futtaim Motors, said: “Al-Futtaim Motors’ efforts to promote safety go many years back and vary between anti-counterfeit campaigns, drivers training and school outreach programs, to name just a few. Participating in this initiative cements our decades-long partnership with the Dubai Police and reiterates our commitment to safety. Using an advanced suite of technologies, our Toyota and Lexus cars come equipped with the most comprehensive safety features aiming at helping the driver avoid potential accidents, and lessening the consequences of a collision. We take this opportunity to remind motorists about the necessity to periodically maintain their cars, check their tyre pressure and condition, and to always use genuine car parts to avoid putting their lives and the lives of others at risk”.

Both Lexus and Toyota cars provide a comprehensive suite of safety technologies, that can minimize the probability of an accident, and reduce the consequences of a collision. Depending on the model, the key safety features include, Pre-Crash System, a combination of collision detection and collision preparation systems, Dynamic Radar Cruise Control which supplements the conventional system with a vehicle-to-vehicle distance control mode and helps maintain a suitable distance from the preceding vehicle,  Lane-Keeping Assist which detects lane markings on the road and then provides information and steering assistance in accordance with the road and driving conditions, Automatic High Beam which detects nearby lights and automatically switches between high beams and low beams to ensure optimum night-time visibility, in addition to Parking Assist, Rear Cross Traffic Alert, Blind Spot Monitor, Vehicle Stability Control and Anti-lock Braking System.

Al-Futtaim Motors had earlier announced its partnership with Abu Dhabi Police and SAAED for the Prevention of Traffic Accidents in Abu Dhabi, to support their ‘Traffic Safety Awareness Initiatives & Events 2017’.

Source: Al-Futtaim

###

Posted on by

SPAR Spain further expands with opening of three new supermarkets

Spain, 2017-Jul-10 — /EPR Retail News/ — Three different partners opened new SPAR Supermarkets in June; ranging from a convenience store in Tenerife of 300 sqm through to two large supermarkets in Canyelles and Almendralejo, each with 1,000 sqm sales area.

The ongoing commitment by all partners in Spain to growing the brand through opening new stores is shown by these recent openings by the licenced partners for these territories, Agrucan SL, Fragadis SL and Lider Aliment SA.

The large supermarkets are operating under the EUROSPAR Supermarket banner, focusing on a wide assortment of products with over 5,500 SKUs available, long opening hours and service departments including delicatessen, bakery, butchery complemented by an excellent fruit and vegetable range. The frozen and dry goods areas of the stores offer a wide range of SPAR Own Brand products in addition to national brands. Customer reaction upon the opening of both of these new supermarkets was evident in the good turnover achieved after launch.

The SPAR store in Tenerife, which was developed with very modern equipment and at an investment of €375,000, focuses on providing great levels of service and is open every day of the week. There is a diverse range of products available, adapted to suit shoppers in this location and based on the experience of the other SPAR stores on the island. Consumers, both residents and tourists, welcome the availability of fresh bakery, delicatessen, butchery as well as fruit and vegetables. 13 new employment positions were created by opening this store.

Contact:

SPAR International
Email: info@spar-international.com
Tel: +3120 626 6749

Source: Spar International

Posted on by

Baskin-Robbins Launches Ice Cream Delivery with DoorDash in 22 Cities, including Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and New York City

Baskin-Robbins Launches Ice Cream Delivery with DoorDash in 22 Cities, including Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and New York City

 

  • Baskin-Robbins Launches Ice Cream Delivery with DoorDash for more than 600 locations in 22 Cities, including Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and New York City.
  • Brands will Deliver Joy to Guests and Children’s Hospitals Across the Country

CANTON, Mass., 2017-Jul-10 — /EPR Retail News/ — National Ice Cream Month just got a little sweeter with today’s news from Baskin-Robbins and DoorDash. Beginning today  (July 6, 2017), ice cream lovers in nearly two dozen cities across the country can use DoorDash – the technology company connecting customers with the best local business through door-to-door delivery – to have their favorite Baskin-Robbins ice cream treats delivered right to their doorstep.

More than 600 Baskin-Robbins locations in 22 cities will be supported by DoorDash delivery, including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Nashville, New York City, Phoenix, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, DC. Residents in the participating cities can use the DoorDash app or website to order their favorite Baskin-Robbins products with just a tap or click, without leaving home or work.

To celebrate the launch, DoorDash and Baskin-Robbins will deliver Polar Pizza® Ice Cream Treats to children’s hospitals in select cities across the country on July 14 – the same day that Baskin-Robbins will host its first-ever nationwide Polar Pizza in-store sampling. On this day, guests are invited to Baskin-Robbins shops for a free sample of Baskin-Robbins’ new Mint Chocolate Chip Polar Pizza, which features a double fudge brownie crust and Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream topped with OREO® cookie pieces, fudge and marshmallow topping. The special sampling, which will take place from Noon – 5:00 p.m. on July 14, is another way that guests can celebrate National Ice Cream Month with Baskin-Robbins.

“We’re so excited to partner with DoorDash to offer our guests the very best ice cream delivery experience and give them another way to enjoy Baskin-Robbins ice cream treats from the convenience of their own home,” said Carol Austin, Vice President of Marketing for Baskin-Robbins. “And to celebrate our ice cream delivery launch and National Ice Cream Month, we’re honored to work with DoorDash to deliver joy to several children’s hospitals across the country by providing free Polar Pizzas to patients, their families and dedicated hospital staff.”

The children’s hospitals that will receive a Polar Pizza delivery are partners of the Joy in Childhood Foundation (formerly the Dunkin’ Donuts & Baskin-Robbins Community Foundation) whose mission is to bring joy to sick and hungry kids. The participating hospitals include Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital (Chicago); Children’s Hospital Los Angeles; Rady Children’s Hospital (San Diego); and Phoenix Children’s Hospital.

“Nothing brings joy to people quite like ice cream, so we’re proud to celebrate our partnership with Baskin-Robbins by having Dashers across the country deliver Polar Pizzas to children’s hospitals,” said Tony Xu, CEO and co-founder of DoorDash. “Through our partnership with Baskin-Robbins, we’re now able to provide our busy customers with the convenience of having the brand’s high-quality, premium ice cream treats delivered right to their doorstep.”

To get started with Baskin-Robbins delivery, visit www.doordash.com/baskinrobbins or download the DoorDash app for Android or iOS. For information about Baskin-Robbins’ wide variety of premium ice cream flavors and frozen desserts, visit www.BaskinRobbins.com or follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/BaskinRobbins), Twitter (www.twitter.com/BaskinRobbins) or Instagram (www.instagram.com/BaskinRobbins).

OREO is a registered trademark of Mondelēz International group, used under license.

About Baskin-Robbins

Baskin-Robbins is the world’s largest chain of ice cream specialty shops, providing guests with a wide array of ice cream flavors and delicious treats at more than 7,800 retail shops in more than 50 countries around the world. The brand was founded by two ice cream enthusiasts whose passion for ice cream led to the creation of many iconic ice cream flavors including Pralines ‘n Cream, Jamoca® Almond Fudge and Very Berry Strawberry. Today, Baskin-Robbins has more than 1,300 ice creams in its flavor library, and also offers custom ice cream cakes, frozen beverages and Polar Pizza®. Its franchised ice cream shops serve as places where people can connect and create special memories while they explore a wide array of flavors, including a new Flavor of the Month every month. Headquartered in Canton, Mass., Baskin-Robbins is part of the Dunkin’ Brands Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: DNKN) family of companies. For more information, visit www.BaskinRobbins.com.

About DoorDash      

DoorDash is a technology company that connects customers with their favorite local and national businesses in more than 500 cities across the United States and Canada. Founded in the summer of 2013, DoorDash empowers merchants to grow their businesses by offering on-demand delivery, data-driven insights, and better in-store efficiency, providing delightful experiences from door to door. By building the last mile delivery infrastructure for local cities, DoorDash is bringing communities closer, one doorstep at a time. Read more on the DoorDash blog or at www.doordash.com.

About the Joy in Childhood Foundation

The Joy in Childhood Foundation provides the simple joys of childhood to sick and hungry kids. The Foundation brings together a wide range of stakeholders—including franchisees, crew members, employees, partners and guests —and partners with food banks, children’s hospitals, and nonprofit organizations directly committed to serving sick and hungry kids to fund joyful environments, joyful experiences and joyful expressions to ensure that children whose lives are compromised by hunger or sickness have the support and essential services to find joy in their daily lives. Since launching in 2006, the Joy in Childhood Foundation (formerly The Dunkin Donuts & Baskin-Robbins Community Foundation), has granted more than $14 million to hundreds of national and local charities across the country.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Justin Drake
Phone: 781-737-5200
Email: press@dunkinbrands.com

Source: Baskin-Robbins

###

Posted on by

LCP: ERF Electrical celebrating its 50th anniversary with the opening of new, larger trade premises at The Dunstall Hill Estate

London, 2017-Jul-10 — /EPR Retail News/ — A leading electrical wholesaler is celebrating its 50th anniversary with the opening of new, larger trade premises in Wolverhampton.

ERF Electrical Wholesalers Ltd is relocating from Willenhall Road to unit 2, The Dunstall Hill Estate, after agreeing a 10-year lease with leading commercial property investment company LCP, which owns and manages the estate.

The 4,933 sq ft unit is double the size of its previous premises and will enable the family-run business to increase its stock holding, supporting the growth of the Wolverhampton branch, which has been in the city since 1979.

Simon Jones, ERF Electrical project director, said the new premises forms part of the company’s expansion plans across the region. It has nine branches in the East and West Midlands and another in Andover, Hampshire. It hopes to open a further two branches this year and over the next five years aims to continue investing in opening new businesses.

The new Wolverhampton branch is the first to open this year. It currently employs five people and there may be new employment opportunities in the next few months.

“The location and the layout of the unit allows ERF to offer an unprecedented service to customers who want to visit the trade counter or who require a delivery service to their premises or direct to site,” said Simon.

“Currently this is the only unit ERF have with LCP, however due to the service we have received from them we would certainly work with them to find other units in the area to support our expansion programme.”

Paula James, LCP industrial lettings manager, said: “The Dunstall Hill Estate is a very popular business location being so close to the city centre and to the motorway network.”

The Dunstall Hill Estate is accessed off Gorsebrook Road, close to the entrance of Dunstall Hill Racecourse. The main A449 Wolverhampton to Stafford Road is approximately 250 yards from the site, providing access to Wolverhampton city centre, and to junction 2 of the M54 and the wider national motorway network. Existing tenants include Gunnebo UK Ltd, Wyko Group and Heinrich Georg (UK) Ltd.

Contact:

kyates@lcpproperties.co.uk

Source: LCP

Posted on by

Rakuten Card starts live operations of completely rebuilt core system; first adopter of Oracle Cloud in the Japanese financial industry

  • The first adopter of Oracle Cloud at Customer in the Japanese financial industry
    provides a credit card transaction environment with long-term stability
    to its members and affiliated stores
  • https://www.rakuten-card.co.jp/

Tokyo, 2017-Jul-10 — /EPR Retail News/ — Rakuten Card Co., Ltd. and Oracle Corporation Japan today (July 10, 2017) announced the start of live operations of the completely rebuilt core system for Rakuten Card.

Rakuten Card is seeking to become the credit card industry leader. The rebuild of its core system allows Rakuten Card to operate more flexibly in line with the expansion speed of its business, and provide a stable environment where members can use Rakuten Card services with peace of mind in the long term. Previously, several hours of downtime were required every month for the Rakuten Card members’ online service “Rakuten e-NAVI,” but with the rebuild of its core system, this regular maintenance is no longer necessary, allowing Rakuten Card to further increase the convenience it offers to customers.

The new core system for Rakuten Card is an open system which allows it to flexibly combine the software and hardware of different operators. In addition to enabling simultaneous editing by multiple users, which was difficult on the previous mainframe system, a drastic improvement in productivity was achieved by unifying the platform, architecture and development language of the core and surrounding systems.

Rakuten Card is also the first enterprise in the Japanese financial industry*1 to adopt the “Oracle Cloud at Customer”*2, which provides an Oracle Cloud environment within a company’s self-managed data center. This enables a flexible response to temporary spikes in system burden caused by certain processes, provides further enhanced processing power to match the rapid increase in Rakuten Card members*3 and transaction counts, and provides a transaction environment with long-term stability to Rakuten Card members and affiliated stores.

The project to completely rebuild the core system began in 2014, and this marks the start of its live operations.

From the start of credit card operations in the Rakuten Group in 2005, Rakuten Card has operated on a mainframe-based core system. With that platform, however, due to limits to the hardware performance, it became increasing difficulty to rapidly respond to a variety of increased burdens. Furthermore, due to both the growing complexity of its core system resulting from many years of operation and a shortage of developers experienced in COBOL, there were severe constraints from both a development and maintenance viewpoint. To resolve these various problems, Rakuten Card decided to newly adopt Oracle’s Engineered Systems offerings, “Oracle Exalogic Elastic Cloud” and “Oracle Exadata Database Machine”, as a technology foundation, and migrate to a Java based application. The “VENUS®” migration service provided by Jcreation Co., Ltd. was utilized for the application migration. “Java Platform, Enterprise Edition,” the standard of Java-based enterprise development, was adopted as the development language.

Furthermore, an automatic testing environment was established to ensure product quality even amid the continuous rapid changes required in response to the ever-changing business environment. “Apache Spark” was introduced based on support from Cloudera, Inc. to realize simplified distributed batch processing, an innovation which prevents the loss of processing performance. As a result of this change, the average speed of batch processing was increased over 2 times compared to the previous system, making the highly stable operation of the core system possible.

Going forward, Rakuten Card will continue to develop new services and improve its existing ones and work to create an environment which allows it to offer even greater convenience to its customers for maximum satisfaction

*1 Based on research by Oracle Japan
*2 Oracle Cloud at Customer offers hardware, software, cloud management, support and IaaS on a monthly subscription model, as well as providing a cloud environment for Oracle Database, Exadata and Java environment at a metered or non-metered fee. It is 100% compatible with Oracle Cloud, and allows usage of all the latest features.
*3 14 million Rakuten Card members (as of April 2017)

* Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

■ About Rakuten Card
Rakuten Card Co., Ltd. launched the Rakuten Card in July 2005. The company strives to provide an environment which allows customers to use their credit card safely and with peace of mind, and aims to become the No. 1 credit card company in Japan. Rakuten Card is recognized for providing services that meet its customer needs, and it has been ranked number 1 in the credit card category for 8 years running in Japanese Customer Satisfaction Index survey by the Service Productivity & Innovation for Growth (SPRING). Rakuten Card boasts a current membership of 14 million users (as of April 2017).
URL： https://www.rakuten-card.co.jp/

■ About Oracle Japan
Oracle Corporation Japan was established as the Japanese subsidiary of Oracle Corporation in 1985. With the goal of being the “No. 1 Cloud Company” it offers its comprehensive, integrated cloud applications and cloud platform services, product portfolio that creates information value from Big Data; and a number of services that support the use of its products. Oracle Corporation Japan was listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2000 (Security code: 4716).
http://oracle.com/jp

■ About Oracle
The Oracle Cloud delivers hundreds of SaaS applications and enterprise-class PaaS and IaaS services to customers in more than 195 countries while processing 55 billion transactions a day. For more information about Oracle (NYSE:ORCL), please visit us at http://oracle.com.

Source: Rakuten Inc.

Posted on by

ADEO appointed Philippe Zimmermann Chief Executive Officer

ADEO appointed Philippe Zimmermann Chief Executive Officer

 

RONCHIN – FRANCE, 2017-Jul-10 — /EPR Retail News/ — At 46, Philippe Zimmermann is a visionary and inventive entrepreneur, profoundly attached to human development and to ADEO’s core values of sharing.

Section manager in the La Rochelle store in 1993, he then worked in different ADEO companies and became Deputy Chief Executive Officer at ADEO, in charge of the DIY hypermarket sector, accelerating omni-channel transformation and Product-Purchasing-Supply Chain cooperation. Today (06/28/2017), Philippe Zimmermann is Chief Executive Officer at ADEO, and he continues to pump his energy into the heart of the ADEO community of companies, with a global strategy that embraces the ADEO fundamentals as well as all the transformations happening in today’s world.

Contact:
Tel. +33 3 59 31 53 00
http://www.adeo.com

Source: ADEO

###