MMR: Mass Market Retailers, October 1, 2018

4 MMR October 1 2018 NEWS Aldi Instacart Partner on Delivery BATAVIA Ill Aldi has announced a national partnership with Instacart bringing online grocery delivery to Aldi stores across the country After a successful pilot program online ordering of Aldi products via Instacart will be available across 35 states in 5000 new ZIP codes by Thanksgiving The national rollout covers 75 major markets including San Diego New York City Miami Raleigh N C and Minneapolis Aldi is a pioneer and a leader in creating a shopping experience that works with peoples busy lives said Jason Hart chief executive officer of Aldi U S Our partnership with Instacart and the expansion of our e commerce options are more ways we are meeting the growing needs of todays shopper who wants high quality food at unbeatable prices Customers will have access to fresh groceries including organic produce antibiotic free meat and fresh seafood all available for Instacart delivery in as little as one hour The response to the Aldi pilot programs in Atlanta Dallas Los Angeles and Chicago have been overwhelmingly positive Bringing delivery to Aldi stores Online ordering and delivery to be available in all Aldi markets across the U S enables Instacart to grow its base of customers and introduce even more people to same day grocery delivery said Apoorva Mehta founder and CEO of Instacart Like Aldi Instacart is focused on delivering value and making quality food accessible and affordable to everyone Were excited to work together to further innovate the shopping experience with fast delivery and low prices for Aldi customers Aldis national partnership with Instacart comes during a 53 billion five year expansion program that is expected to grow the chains store base by nearly 50 to about 2500 locations by the end of 2022 and upgrade most of its stores Aldi also has begun a major product expansion in which 20 of the items in every store will be new The product rollout expected to run through early next year focuses on fresh organic and easy to prepare offerings and will expand the selection of fresh food by 40 The retailer also just kicked off a national advertising campaign called Shop Differentli which highlights the benefits of shopping at its stores Bauer Returns to Target as Senior VP MINNEAPOLIS Target Corp veteran John Bauer has rejoined the company as senior vice president global inventory management In this role Bauer leads the teams responsible for ordering inventory positioning global trade and domestic transportation He reports to executive vice president and chief supply chain officer Arthur Valdez Jr Bauer most recently served as chief logistics officer for TJX Cos and before that held supply chain leadership positions at Kohls Corp and Starbucks Corp He previously worked at Target from 1999 to 2007 Were thrilled to have John rejoin the Target team Valdez said Inventory management touches all aspects of the business from merchandising and sourcing to supply chain and stores John has experience working across all aspects of retail and delivering results in transformational environments Targets strategy to leverage its network of more than 1800 stores includes completely transforming its supply chain and logistics capabilities The work has been integral to offering guests free two day shipping nationwide same day delivery shopped by Shipt in 150 markets and the rollout of Drive Up and Order Pickup services Target is dedicated to ensuring guests have access to the products they love when and how they want them Bauer said adding that he was looking forward to helping drive the next phase of an industryleading supply chain evolution CVS Merlo Talks About Bold Disruptive Plans LOS ANGELES CVS Health by combining with Aetna Inc will lead the broad change needed in American health care CVS president and chief executive officer Larry Merlo said at a forum here What we propose is bold disruptive and truly unique Merlo said last month at Town Hall Los Angeles Its also achievable with the right engagement at the community level Melding the capabilities of two leading health care organizations will establish an innovative health care model that is easier to use less expensive and puts people at the center of their care he added Merlo said the merged entity will localize simplify and enhance care Pointing out that nearly 70 of Americans live within three miles of a CVS Pharmacy he also observed that people can see a nurse practitioner at one of CVS 1100 MinuteClinics And the company now has optical centers inside selected stores We can help fill care gaps between visits to the doctor serving as a complement to traditional primary care Merlo said Addressing the current systems fragmentation he said that one in five people on Medicare who leave the hospital are readmitted and half of those readmissions and all the associated costs and pain can be avoided Preventable readmissions cost the health care system some 25 billion a year money that could go to infrastructure education and job training he noted By extending our new health care model more broadly in the marketplace patients will benefit from earlier interventions and better connected care leading to improved health outcomes he said Think again about that senior leaving the hospital knowing that the care plan prescribed by her doctor is being seamlessly coordinated by CVS and her caregiver Integrating Aetnas medical information and analytics with CVS Healths pharmacy data and its 10000 community sites can enable more effective treatment of the whole patient he said He vowed that CVS Aetna will improve care in large part through chronic disease management It will have a much more complete picture of a persons whole health as well as a community presence Diabetes care Opens a store in South Philly for instance will not be offered in an ad hoc or fragmented way he emphasized but seamlessly with patients their doctors and the many other players it takes to coordinate care Consumers Ready to Spend for Halloween WASHINGTON Americans plan to spend 9 billion to celebrate Halloween this year according to a survey conducted last month asking about the Halloween shopping plans of 6961 consumers More than 175 million Americans are expected to spend an average of 8679 each 66 cents more than last year on Halloween activities according to the National Retail Federations NRFs annual survey conducted by Prosper Insights and Analytics The survey conducted between September 4 and September 12 asked consumers about their Halloween shopping plans The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 12 percentage points The economy is good and consumer confidence is high so families are ready to spend on Halloween this year said NRF president and chief executive officer Matthew Shay Retailers are stocking up to supply children pets and adults with their favorite decorations candy and costumes for the season According to the survey consumers plan to spend 32 billion on costumes purchased by 68 of Halloween shoppers 27 billion on decorations 74 26 billion on candy 95 and 400 million on greeting cards 35 Among Halloween celebrants 70 plan to hand out candy 50 will decorate their home or yard 48 will wear costumes 45 will carve a pumpkin 32 will throw or attend a party 30 will take their children trick or treating 21 will visit a haunted house In addition 18 of consumers surveyed said they planned to dress their pets in costumes One of the biggest trends this year is the growth of spending on pet costumes Prosper Insights executive vice president of strategy Phil Rist said When it comes to buying costumes and other Halloween supplies 45 of shoppers will visit discount stores and 35 will go to a specialty Halloween store or costume store In addition 25 will visit department stores 24 will buy online and 24 in will shop in supermarkets We can enable more effective treament Sprouts Moves Into Philadelphia PHILADELPHIA Sprouts Farmers Market opened its first supermarket here last month anchoring a mixed use development project that is bringing new apartment buildings and retail outlets to a reviving area in the citys culturally diverse South Philly section Target Corp is coming to the neighborhood this fall with a new 39000 square foot store For Sprouts the September 19 ribbon cutting on the 32000 square foot store represents the latest milestone in its coast to coast expansion The fast growing Phoenix based company now has stores in 19 states The Philadelphia store is part of the retailers push into the Mid Atlantic region Earlier this year Sprouts opened two stores in Maryland one in Durham N C and one in Simpsonville S C The newest Sprouts Farmers Market opened in Philadelphia after an extensive rehabilitation of a dilapidated railroad freight shed that houses the store According to the Hidden City Philadelphia website the buildings dazzling Fink Truss system that resembles the arched skeleton of a humpbacked whale an engineering design typically used in bridge construction was preserved Brick was repointed windows replaced with the original trim retained and exterior elements such as wooden doors cast iron eave brackets and corner guards were restored and repainted Shoppers at the new store are presented with fresh produce barrels holding grains nuts and sweets a deli with prepared entrees and side dishes a butcher shop a fish market and a section devoted to vitamins and dietary supplements The Philadelphia store is one of 13 that Sprouts Farmers Market was planning to open in the third quarter following ribbon cutting ceremonies at 16 stores in the years first half The 16 year old company has more than 300 stores