Eli Greenblat September 6, 2012 The Age Aldi Australia chief Tom Daunt wants to take on the heavyweights. ALDI Australia boss Tom Daunt has called on state governments to follow Victoria’s lead by streamlining planning laws. This, he says, would allow the German discount supermarket, as well as any other retailer, to take on the heavyweights, Woolworths and Coles. Big planning reforms in Victoria will see Aldi devoting more investment there as it ramps up its store network. Mr Daunt said the private owners of Aldi, Germany’s reclusive Albrecht family, saw great potential for the supermarket chain in Australia, with the current store count of 277 to hit 300 by the end of the year and the capacity to grow to between 500 and 600 on the eastern seaboard if planning and zoning laws were freed up. ”They are enormously positive about Australia,” he said. ”I think in the long…

NACS Daily News The mobile free app allows users to easily navigate information about scheduled events and more than 50 educational sessions and speakers at this year’s NACS Show, which takes place next month. ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The NACS Show Mobile App is now available to download. This is the third year that NACS has developed a NACS Show mobile app to enhance the experience for attendees before, during and after the NACS Show. The NACS Show will take place October 7 to 10 in Las Vegas. NACS Show retailer attendees, as well as wholesalers and distributors, can register for the event and secure housing at nacsshow.com. The free app allows users to easily navigate information about scheduled events and more than 50 educational sessions and speakers and integrates information about PEI (Petroleum Equipment Institute) sessions and events occurring at the NACS Show. It also provides a searchable list of…

NACS Daily News The iPhone app allows customers to scan barcodes with their smartphone while they shop. BENTONVILLE, Ark. – Reuters reports that Walmart Stores Inc. has begun testing “Scan & Go” that lets customers scan barcodes with an iPhone app will shopping, then pay at a self-checkout register. Last week, some Walmart workers with iPhones tested the app at an Arkansas store. “All of the effort is to speed your way through the checkout so that we can reduce costs and improve the shopping experience,” said Paul Weitzel, managing partner at retail consulting firm Willard Bishop. Weitzel has no direct knowledge of the Walmart program. “With smartphones and improved technology we’re only going to see more of this.” Earlier this year, Walmart indicated it would increase the number of self-checkout lanes at its Sam’s Club. The retailer has made no bones about its search to reduce costs and price…

Sep 05, 2012 CSNews ATLANTA — RaceTrac Petroleum, which operates more than 630 stores in markets around Atlanta; Baton Rouge, La.; Tampa/St. Petersburg, Fla.; Dallas/Fort Worth; Miami; New Orleans; and Orlando, Fla., has been selected as the inaugural Convenience Store Retailer Innovator of the Year by the editors of Convenience Store News, the convenience store industry’s leading media brand. RaceTrac, a company with a history of leadership in technology and fuel retailing, was selected on the strength of its new forward-thinking, foodservice-intensive prototype, called RT6K, a 6,000-square-foot store that debuted earlier this year. “We are proud to honor RaceTrac Petroleum for being on the cutting-edge of convenience store retailing,” said Don Longo, Editor-in-Chief, of CSNews, a Stagnito media publication. “In the 1970s, RaceTrac was one of the early pioneers of self-service fuel. Now, they have proven that their culture of innovation continues as they are expanding the boundaries of what…