Money Buzz! Europa

Category: Retail

  • In Austria you can withdraw money from supermarket tills

    In Austria you can withdraw money from supermarket tills

    In more than 3.700 shops throughout Austria, cash can also be withdrawn at the cash registers, says Heute.

    Billa, Bipa, C&A, the organic retailer Denn’s, Hofer, Lidl, Mediamarkt, Merkur, Mpreis, Penny, Unimarkt and Zgonc are now included, as well as some hosts in the rural sector. 

    How this service works?

    Before paying at the checkout, you can say how much cash you want.

    Per purchase, you can withdraw from 10 euros to 200 euros. This also works several times a day, if the limit set by the bank allows this.

    The service can be used free of charge with virtually all classic ATM cards and the Debit Mastercard.

  • SPAR Italy launches more eco-friendly products under green own brand range

    SPAR Italy launches more eco-friendly products under green own brand range

    The newly redeveloped product lines in the DESPAR Scelta Verde EcoLogico range include tissues, napkins, toilet paper and kitchen paper, as well as disposable cups and plates.

    SPAR Italy’s DESPAR Scelta Verde EcoLogico range includes products with a low environmental footprint.

    The tissue range is made from 100% recycled paper, with the packaging made of Mater-bi, a biodegradable and compostable material. All products in the range are Eco Label certified.

    DESPAR Scelta Verde EcoLogico plates and glasses, also packaged in Mater-bi, are made with materials of natural origin. The vegetable fibre plates and their packaging are biodegradable and compostable as green waste.

    PLA, an innovative bioplastic derived from the transformation of sugars and other natural materials, is used for the glasses sold in the line.

    The hot beverage cups are made of CPLA, a bioplastic that is resistant to high temperatures.

  • Carrefour subsidiary So.bio to acquire specialist banner Bioazur

    Carrefour subsidiary So.bio to acquire specialist banner Bioazur

    Carrefour announced that its subsidiary So.bio is to acquire Bioazur, a network of five stores specialising in the sale of organic products in south-western France (Albi, Castres, Rodez, Gaillac and Revel).

    This purchase is in line with Carrefour’s plan to bolster its specialist organic business that began in 2019 with its acquisition of So.bio.

    The So.bio network is now present at 22 sales outlets, up from eight when it was first acquired. This figure should increase to 30 by the end of 2020.

    The acquisition will happen over the next few weeks.

  • Used Products has reached a turnover of over 500.000 euros in Romania

    Used Products has reached a turnover of over 500.000 euros in Romania

    The Romanian subsidiary of the Dutch retailer Used Products, which is specialized in selling new and used products, reported a business of over half a million euros in the first nine months of 2020.

    This means an increase of more than 100% compared to last year’s same period, when the business reached 250.000 euros.

    By the end of the year, Alexandru Săsărman (34 years old), the entrepreneur from Cluj who opened, together with his wife Ramona (36 years old), the first Used Products franchise in Romania in 2018, expects to register a turnover of about 750.000 euros and a net profit of over 200.000 euros.

    Currently, the dutch company has around 60 stores in five countries: the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Romania and, recently, in Germany.

    New Used Products stores in Romania

    In Romania, the company intends to expand and is looking for partners for big cities: Bucharest, Timisoara, Constanta, Iasi, Brasov, Sibiu, Oradea and Arad.

    Alexandru Săsărman says that a Used Products center can be opened starting from an investment of 40.000-50.000 euros.

    ”Most of the initial budget is directed to the arrangement of the space and to the first stock of products. However, there are stores of 50-60 sqm in the network, where the initial investment was less than 50,000 euros”, he points out.

  • CCC introduces searching for products based on a photo on all platforms

    CCC introduces searching for products based on a photo on all platforms

    After iOS, CCC introduces searching for products based on a photo on all communication channels – Android platform, ccc.eu online store, and Messenger.

    The customer can now take any photo of shoes or handbags and use the image search engine to see the most similar products in the CCC offers.

    The solution can be used in the first place by users in Poland and Hungary.

    How the solution works

    This is a version of the technology used in Google Lens, personalized for CCC, which is based on the use of image analysis by deep neural networks.

    The algorithm identifies the characteristic features of a given product and searches for the most similar ones from the store’s product set. It can recognize and distinguish all products in the photo, which are also in the store’s offer.

  • 73% of Slovaks consider that eggs from local production are of the highest quality

    73% of Slovaks consider that eggs from local production are of the highest quality

    Almost a third of Slovaks buy eggs several times or at least once a week and 39% at least once every two weeks, Ekonomika reports.

    At the same time, 73% consider that eggs from local production are of the highest quality, while 63% think that Slovakia is self-sufficient in egg production.

    Almost half of Slovaks declare that it is important for them in what conditions the chickens that lay the eggs live.

    Also, only 36% understand the symbols that indicate the type of farming on the eggs.

  • H&M customers in Sweden can transform unwanted garments into new fashion favourites

    H&M customers in Sweden can transform unwanted garments into new fashion favourites

    H&M customers in Sweden have the possibility to transform unwanted garments into new fashion favourites with the help from a new garment-to-garment recycling system, Looop.

    Looop opens to the public in one of H&M Drottninggatan stores in Stockholm on October 12. This is the first time this garment-to-garment recycling system is shown in store by a fashion retailer.

    Looop uses a technique that dissembles and assembles old garments into new ones. The garments are cleaned, shredded into fibres and spun into new yarn which is then knitted into new fashion finds.

    The system uses no water and no chemicals.

    The cost is 100 Swedish kronor (around 10 euros) for members of H&M loyalty club. For non-members the fee is 150 Swedish kronor (around 15 euros). 

  • Sinsay to open the biggest store in Poland in Galeria Północna

    Sinsay to open the biggest store in Poland in Galeria Północna

    Galeria Północna has signed an agreement with LPP to relocate its Sinsay store. The deal will result in the largest brand store in Poland with over 2,600 sq. m.

    The new Sinsay will have a total of 2,665 sq. m of area on two floors of Galeria Północna and is scheduled top open mid-December.

    Recently, a brand new Food Hall has been opened in the shopping center. It is a combination of four, newly established restaurants on the Warsaw market, including Zdrowia Smak, La Terra Cafe, La Terra Pizzeria, and Burger Booth.

    Also, Galeria Północna received a new mural on the roof as well as two new playgrounds. On the other hand, a new arcade place has been opened and the outside playground has been expanded with a zip line.

  • Castorama Poland swaps plants for electrical waste

    Castorama Poland swaps plants for electrical waste

    Castorama Poland expands its store-wide take-back scheme. All electrical and battery-operated items are included, no matter where they were bought, such as washing machines, refrigerators, phones, power tools, kitchen appliances and computers.

    Customers can take them to their local store and receive heather plants in return.

    Electrical items cannot be thrown away with household rubbish, and larger items especially can be difficult to transport to municipal recycling centres.

    Due to its popularity in previous years, Castorama has expanded the scheme to all of its 82 stores this year and expects to give out 400.000 plants in return for its customers’ old appliances.

  • Kingfisher completes sale of Castorama Russia to Maxidom

    Kingfisher completes sale of Castorama Russia to Maxidom

    Kingfisher completed the sale of Castorama Russia to Maxidom, a leading home improvement company in Russia, for a total consideration of RUB c.7.4bn (c.£73m).

    The total consideration of RUB c.7.4bn will be satisfied as follows:

    • 80% paid at the closing of the transaction
    • Remaining 20% to be paid in equal instalments over two years
    • The sale has been granted all regulatory approvals and completed on 30 September.

    Thierry Garnier, CEO of Kingfisher, said: ”I am pleased to announce the completion of the sale of Castorama Russia to Maxidom. I would like to thank our Castorama Russia colleagues for their contribution to Kingfisher and wish them well for the future.”

  • Ikea to remove non-rechargeable alkaline batteries by 2021

    Ikea to remove non-rechargeable alkaline batteries by 2021

    All non-rechargeable alkaline batteries will be removed from the global home furnishing range of Ikea stores by October 2021.

    Several current comparative Life Cycle Assessment studies show that the environmental impact of alkaline batteries is higher compared to rechargeable nickel-metal hydride batteries (NiMH) when used in common household devices that have a high energy consumption and are therefore charged on a regular basis – such as toys, flashlights, portable speakers or cameras.

    Already after 10 charges of a rechargeable NiMH battery, such as the LADDA range sold in Ikea stores, greenhouse gas emissions are lower as compared to using alkaline batteries to obtain the same amount of energy.

    When about 50 charges are reached, the overall environmental impact of NiMH batteries is equal or even less than the impact of using alkaline batteries.

    Ikea sold about 300 million alkaline batteries globally last year

    Calculations indicate that if – hypothetically – all Ikea customers switched from ALKALISK alkaline batteries to LADDA rechargeable batteries, used them for high-drain devices and charged them just 50 times the global waste reduction would be as much as 5,000 tons on an annual basis.

    As one LADDA battery can be charged up to 500 times, the potential to reduce additional waste exists.   

  • Starting 1 Octomber 2020 Dänisches Bettenlager Austria is Jysk

    Starting 1 Octomber 2020 Dänisches Bettenlager Austria is Jysk

    On 1 October 2020, all Dänisches Bettenlager stores in Austria changed name to Jysk.

    ”By changing the name to Jysk, the Austrian stores will now also benefit from the store concepts and systems. This will be great for both our customers as well as for our employees,” says Jan Bøgh, CEO & President in Jysk.

    Jysk will invest around 200.000 euros in each of the 87 stores in Austria to introduce the new store concept 3.0, which includes woodlook floor instead of carpet, inspiring showrooms and more focus on deco and textiles.

    Jysk is planning to expand with three new stores in Austria during the financial year 2020/21 (1 September 2020 – 31 August 2021).

    After having changed the name of the stores in Austria, only the stores in Germany still carry the Dänisches Bettenlager logo.