Innovation Seminar Invitation – free for AACS Members
RMIT University Melbourne On Tuesday 25th of February we have a visitor from the USA who will be presenting a seminar on aspects of product innovation. I would like to extend an invitation to you to come along and participate. This is a brown bag seminar so please bring your lunch. Orange juice and water will be provided. Please RSVP to me via this email (mike.reid@rmit.edu.au). Seminar details as follows Date: Tuesday 25th February. Venue: RMIT University Building 80, 445 Swanston Street (80.11.009 i.e. building 80, level 11, room 009). Time – 12.30 – 2pm. Seminar runs 1.00pm – 2.00pm. Title: The Evolution of Interorganizational Relationships in Emerging Ventures: An Ethnographic Study within the New Product Development Process Emerging ventures rarely have the resources they need, which generally forces them to reach beyond their boundaries to access these resources. While the field has acknowledged how critical external relationships are in…
Read MorePLAIN PACKAGING: NEGATIVE IMPACTS ON RETAILERS PLAIN TO SEE
MEDIA RELEASE 11 February 2014 As the New Zealand Parliament debates the merits of plain packaging for tobacco products, the Australasian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS) has reinforced the negative ramifications the policy has had for retailers in Australia, where it was introduced despite no evidence it would have any impact on the incidence of smoking. Unfortunately, after more than a year as law, plain packaging in Australia has had no impact on the volume of tobacco sold, but has seriously dented retailers’ bottom lines and encouraged the market for illicit tobacco to flourish. According to AACS members in Australia, the actual volume of tobacco sold by convenience stores in Australia remains stable, with some reporting an increase in tobacco sales since plain packaging was introduced. It is the additional costs that small retailers in Australia have been forced to absorb that has seriously impacted their bottom line, said AACS…
Read MoreCOSBOA calls for local development powered by small business
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Read MoreBP recommits to refineries, pumps here
Peter Ker February 11, 2014 The Age Oil and gas major BP has dismissed speculation about its future in Australia, declaring that it wants to be a ”major player” in the local fuel market for the forseeable future. Despite promising to sell $US10 billion worth of assets from its global portfolio over the next 22 months, BP ended months of speculation by saying it was ”fully committed” to its Australian petrol stations and refineries. The pledge to continue in Australia is a rare piece of good news for the local manufacturing industry, which was rocked on Monday when multinational Toyota said it would cease manufacturing here in 2017. The retail fuel sector has been under intense scrutiny in recent weeks since Shell said it had received expressions of interest from suitors for its Geelong refinery and parts of its marketing portfolio. ExxonMobil also struck a deal with 7-Eleven in January…
Read MoreWomen CEOs Headline NACS Leadership Forum
Don Longo February 11, 2014, Stagnito Media MIAMI — The annual NACS Leadership Forum opened yesterday with presentations by two industry chief executive officers whose companies are at the forefront of many of the changes taking place in the convenience store industry. Under the theme, “Visions of the Future,” CEOs Kim Bowers of CST Brands Inc. and Allison Moran of RaceTrac Petroleum Inc. spoke about how their large convenience store chains are transforming themselves to serve both current and future customers. Both women cited the need to serve both traditional c-store customers as well as non-traditional customers, such as women, Millennials and multiculturals, as key to the future. Bowers listed the many strengths of her 1,900-store chain. With 1,041 stores in the Southwestern United States, CST operates in states that are among the fastest growing in population in the country. But to capitalize on that growth, Bowers noted that the…
Read MoreSupermarkets may be victim of 'anti-corporatism' as sales slow
Graham Ruddick, 11 Feb 2014 The Telegraph UK Sales at “big four” grocers slow as Aldi, Lidl and Waitrose grab market share The “big four” supermarket chains, Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons, are under pressure from discounters and upmarket grocers Britain’s leading supermarkets could be the victim of “anti-corporatism†as British shoppers switch to discount retailers and Waitrose at a rapid rate, a City analyst has warned. New data published by Kantar Worldpanel on Tuesday showed that grocery sales in the UK grew at the slowest rate for nine years over the last 12 weeks – with Tesco, Morrisons and Asda bearing the brunt of the slowdown. Data for just the last four weeks, which has been seen by The Telegraph, shows that the “big four†grocers, which also include Sainsbury’s, have endured even tougher trading since Christmas. Tesco sales fell by 0.8pc in the four weeks to February 2,…
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