King Kullen: why the first US supermarket was at the forefront of global distribution

Italian, French and British retailers have drawn inspiration and lessons from their American counterparts. And the chain that opened its first supermarket 96 years ago is still family-owned: in June, King Kullen appointed its first female president, Tracey Cullen, the founder’s great-granddaughter

Quick Take — Large-scale retail in France: trends from 2016 to 2026

Growth in the 2016–2026 period for LCC ‘self-service’ fresh produce (pre-packaged, labelled and displayed in refrigerated cabinets) stood at 31 per cent. E-commerce at 140 per cent, discount stores at 64 per cent, neighbourhood shops at 50 per cent, supermarkets at 23 per cent and hypermarkets at 12 per cent.

Supermarkets and hypermarkets are losing market share.

Food e-commerce accounts for 8.3 per cent of the retail sector, whilst discount stores account for 14.1 per cent.

Sources: Circana via Editions Dauvers

Quick Take — In Altroconsumo’s value-for-money ranking, Eurospin comes out on top among discount stores, whilst Dok, Coop and Famila dominate the supermarket and superstore categories for general shopping

The table to look at is the second one.

The comparison in the first table is not very meaningful, partly because the products sold by discount stores, supermarkets and superstores are not the same.

Conad comes top in terms of value for money if you look only at own-brand products (third table).

Source

Drafted on 2 September, updated on 3 September 2026

Quick Take — Italy: discount stores in trouble

In July, volumes in the large-scale retail sector grew more than turnover (sales by value: 0.5 per cent; volumes: 0.9 per cent). This is a significant difference as it signals the end of inflationary pressure: in the four weeks ending 19 July, the Circana Price Observatory recorded a change of -1 per cent, whilst the year-to-date figure remained just positive at 0.1 per cent.

Superstores performed poorly – in July alone – with a fall of 1.3 per cent.

In the year-to-date figures for 2026, discount stores maintained a market share of 20.2 per cent and recorded a 0.4 per cent increase in sales by value.

The annual figure therefore remains positive, but is significantly lower than the 2.1% for the packaged consumer goods sector as a whole. The channel is growing at a slower rate than the market and, as a result, is no longer able to gain market share at the pace observed in previous years…

I largely agree with Andrea Meneghini: discount stores are no longer ‘a novelty’ and need to reinvent themselves. And perhaps many customers are looking for a different, ‘higher-quality’ range.

Quick Take — US: how consumer spending has changed over the last two years

In 2024, beef purchases accounted for a third of all meat purchases. This year, shoppers have bought far less: just 20 per cent of the total.

The amount of chicken they bought has increased: from 41.9 per cent to 47.5 per cent in 2026.

The average shop spend has also risen because shoppers have shifted towards membership-based discount stores (such as Sam’s Club – which is owned by Walmart – or Costco, for example): in 2024, the average shop spend was $66.13, compared with $72.31 this year

The New York Times

Below: beef from Costco.

Quick Take — Action closes the half-year at 8.3 billion and steps up the pace of new store openings

Action closed the first half of 2026 with net revenue of €8.3 billion, up 14 per cent on the same period last year. On a like-for-like basis, growth stood at 3.6 per cent, driven primarily by increased footfall and pricing measures..

Growth was also driven by territorial expansion. With 121 new openings, the network has reached 3,423 stores across 15 countries. The group thus remains on track to open 400 stores throughout 2026.

In Italy, Action made its debut in Sicily with three new openings, bringing the national network to 241 outlets… The high temperatures recorded across Europe also boosted demand for seasonal products, ranging from fans and inflatable swimming pools to beach towels and barbecues. Added to this was the expansion of online shops in the Netherlands and Belgium, which were used to broaden the range of products available beyond what is offered in physical stores alone…

Read more on this topic here

How Walmart became an advertising powerhouse whilst remaining focused on its food, non-food and e-commerce businesses

It is a pity that no Italian company has had the scale, but above all the vision, to take on the world in the way these giants have done. In Italy, everyone thought: e-commerce must be self-sustaining. This was the case for Esselunga at home until it had no rivals, but Amazon and Walmart disprove this view. E-commerce is underpinned by other, more profitable sources of revenue