Posts by theo.foukkare@bigpond.com

Ride-hailing giant Uber has struck a deal with BP to offer discounted electric vehicle charging to its Australian drivers as it launches a service dedicated to lower-emissions rides and seeks to persuade reluctant drivers to make the switch to electric cars. Uber, which has set a target to phase out carbon-polluting vehicles from its platform by 2040, is exploring ways to increase uptake of electric cars in Australia, where sales of emissions-free vehicles are still lagging far behind other developed nations. The United States-based app company on Friday sent the “Uber Green” feature live across Australia for the first time, four years after it was launched in Europe, enabling customers to request a hybrid or fully electric car for the same price as an UberX journey. “Australia’s path to net-zero is going to take a concerted effort from all of us, and Uber is stepping up to play our part,”…

Asda has struck a deal to buy EG Group’s UK and Ireland gas-station business in a move that aims to create a convenience retailing empire. The billionaire Issa brothers, Mohsin and Zuber, announced the merger Tuesday for an enterprise value of about £2.27 billion ($4.4 billion), combining two businesses that are both owned by the brothers and buyout firm TDR Capital. The deal will help EG refinance debt coming due in 2025. Bloomberg News first revealed in late 2021 that the brothers were exploring options for EG Group and considering a potential merger of its operations with Asda. The deal consists of around 350 petrol stations and more than 1000 food-to-go locations. The combination creates a convenience company with annual revenue of about £30 billion, serving more than 20 million customers every week. It also helps Asda in its mission to unseat J Sainsbury as the second-largest UK grocer and…

Grocery retailer Aldi has rolled out Aldi Express, a new Instacart-powered online presence that it is positioning and promoting as a “virtual convenience store.” Delivery is now available to customers from more than 2,100 Aldi locations across the country in as fast as 30 minutes, it said. From convenience items such as prepared foods, snacks and drinks to grocery staples and household essentials, Aldi Express gives customers access to nearly 2,000 of the most-shopped Aldi items, said the company. “We know our customers live hectic lives, and sometimes that means they don’t have time to make it to the grocery store—even for a quick trip. Through Aldi Express, we’re making shopping more convenient so you can satisfy a craving or get a missing ingredient in minutes,” said Scott Patton, vice president of national buying at Aldi. “Together with Instacart, we’ll continue to find ways to innovate and make the online grocery experience even more effortless…

Thomas Ennis Group’s latest pop-up store concept in Johnson’s Place, Dublin which Dan Munford visited during the lunch break at NACS Convenience Summit Europe, Dublin, Ireland, 30 May – 1 June, 2023. The new store takes two weeks to build and opens on Thursday 8th June. Thomas Ennis is widely acknowledged as one of Ireland’s most innovative convenience retailers. He’s also one of the key city centre retailers here in a once again thriving Dublin and when he told us about his latest development, we had to go and see his latest venture – a pop up SPAR convenience store. Can convenience retailers help revitalise city centres as well as turning a good profit? Speaking during the event here in Dublin today, CEO Henry Armour identified the challenge of ‘declining city centres as a more important problem for our industry than inflation’ based upon his own personal experiences as a…

Seven Network has lost a trademarks battle with convenience store giant 7-Eleven, in a costly Federal Court fight over competing logos bearing the phrase 7NOW. The international franchise is now a step closer to registering the trademark 7NOW in Australia, allowing it to roll out a delivery app bearing that name. The app is already available overseas. 7-Eleven’s delivery service launched overseas in July 2020 and was promoted at 7now.com, a website that is no longer accessible in Australia. Seven West Media uses the 7NOW logo and phrase on a site linking to a suite of Seven products including its video-on-demand offering 7PLUS. “If 7-Eleven succeeds in having its marks registered, it proposes to use them to offer a similar [delivery] service in Australia as is being offered overseas,” Justice Thomas Thawley said in a judgment delivered on Thursday. As part of its bid to register its trademarks, 7-Eleven applied successfully to…