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Grocery Sector Remains Optimistic on Potential for Attracting and Retaining Market Share in 2021
Grocery e-commerce is experiencing a surge as more consumers get used to the habit of buying their groceries online. As you already know, the COVID-19 epidemic has accelerated the move to e-commerce and that shift is more notable in the grocery category. Amid the pandemic, more consumers have made their first online grocery shopping. Meanwhile, millions more who have been making online purchases before the pandemic have increased their reliance on online shopping. In the U.S. alone, it is estimated thatonline grocery sales grew by almost 50% in 2020, reaching approximately $89 billion in sales...
ValueWalk
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GameStop shares rocket as frustrated short seller walks away
San Francisco (AFP) - Shares in GameStop rocketed on Friday as an activist short-seller said he was walking away from the stock in the retailer due to what he called an "angry mob" that has terrorized him and his family. Andrew Left of Citron Research put out word of the decision on Twitter a day after he posted a video at YouTube detailing reasons he was certain the retailer was overpriced in the market. GameStop shares ended the formal trading day up 51 percent, having more than tripled since the year began mere weeks ago. Short-sellers borrow shares they think are priced unreasonably high, ...
AFP
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GameStop shares rocket as frustrated short seller walks away
San Francisco (AFP) - Shares in GameStop rocketed on Friday as an activist short-seller said he was walking away from the stock in the retailer due to what he called an "angry mob" that has terrorized him and his family. Andrew Left of Citron Research put out word of the decision on Twitter a day after he posted a video at YouTube detailing reasons he was certain the retailer was overpriced in the market. GameStop shares were up some 39 percent in late day trades, having more than tripled since the year began mere weeks ago. Short-sellers borrow shares they think are priced unreasonably high, ...
AFP
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Amazon offers to help with Covid-19 vaccine effort
San Francisco (AFP) - Tech colossus Amazon on Wednesday offered to put its vast operation to work helping President Joe Biden get 100 million Americans vaccinated against Covid-19 in the next 100 days. Chief of Amazon's worldwide consumer business Dave Clark sent a letter to Biden urging that its workers get vaccinated as early as possible and offering to put the company's resources to work in the broader vaccination effort. Amazon is the second largest employer in the US with more than 800,000 employees, most of whom are "essential workers" who can't do their jobs from home, according to a co...
AFP
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As online grocery shopping soars, Albertsons experiments with automated pickup kiosks
A Jewel-Osco store in Chicago is the first grocery in the nation to pilot an automated pickup kiosk, one of numerous investments grocers are making to prepare for a future of more online shopping. The kiosk, located in the store parking lot, is meant to offer a convenient and contact-free option for online shoppers to collect their groceries. Shoppers are asked to select a two-hour pickup window, and when they arrive they scan a code and their items are delivered robotically, according to the company. Employees shop the store to fill customers’ orders and put them into the kiosk for pickup. Th...
Chicago Tribune
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Fearful US consumers await Biden stimulus injection
Washington (AFP) - President-elect Joe Biden's stimulus plan could spur hesitant US consumers to start spending again, analysts said Friday, amid reports of falling sales in December. But they warned the vast package may not be enough to overcome surging coronavirus cases. Biden on Thursday unveiled a $1.9 trillion package aimed at getting the world's largest economy back on its feet after business shutdowns to stop Covid-19 caused a massive downturn in 2020. The package, dubbed the American Rescue Plan, would raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, fund struggling state and local governments, ...
AFP
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E-commerce soars, restaurants suffer as virus hits 2020 US retail sales
Washington (AFP) - The coronavirus pandemic upended shopping habits in the United States in 2020, government data showed Friday, pushing customers towards online outlets but keeping them away from restaurants and electronics stores. The Commerce Department said US retail sales in the final month of 2020 were up only 2.9 percent from last year, weaker than the 5.8 percent growth seen from December 2018 as stores across the world's largest economy struggled with its massive Covid-19 outbreak. Month-on-month sales also fell by a worse-than-expected 0.7 percent in December and November's data was ...
AFP
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Will jars of salad sell at a doughnut shop? Farmer’s Fridge is trying that at Dunkin’
Farmer’s Fridge, best known for selling jars of fresh salads out of vending machines, is now hawking its healthy fare through an unlikely partner: doughnut titan Dunkin’. Chicago-based Farmer’s Fridge this week launched a pilot with three local Dunkin’ restaurants, which for the next three months will carry a selection of its salads, grain bowls and desserts on their menus. The partnership is Farmer’s Fridge’s first with a fast-casual restaurant and furthers its mission to “make fresh, healthy food as accessible as a candy bar,” said founder and CEO Luke Saunders. He hopes for a wider rollout....
Chicago Tribune
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Commentary: A relic of the home-video era, Family Video is going away almost before we even knew it existed
CHICAGO — The most surprising thing about the news last week that Family Video will close its 250-store chain is that there still existed a 250-store video-rental business. For those of us in areas favored with decent Wi-Fi, those fee-based movie lending libraries were relics of another era, like cellphones that fold in half and speakers that plug into your amplifier rather than a wall outlet. Such stores were consigned to the memory bin, alongside half-completed free-rental punch cards, the pink copies of membership agreements more intricate than your apartment lease, and too many hasty trips...
Chicago Tribune
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Gap closing second store on Chicago's Magnificent Mile
The Gap on Wednesday said it is permanently closing its Water Tower Place store, becoming the chain’s second exit on Chicago’s famed Magnificent Mile. Confirmation that the store, which has been shuttered for months because of the coronavirus pandemic, will not reopen came just one day after Macy’s announced plans to leave its spot in the North Michigan Avenue mall. Gap earlier announced plans to close its two-story flagship five blocks south on Michigan Avenue at the end of January. “As part of our company strategy to adapt to the changing needs of our customer and growth of our online busine...
Chicago Tribune
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