Entries Tagged 'market Stalls' ↓

Greggs hits the road with motorway deal

8:00am Thursday 20th October 2011

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NORTH-East baker Greggs recent appetite for trialing new markets hit the road again yesterday with the announcement it is moving into motorway service stations.

The trial alongside Moto Hospitality is the third diversification in the space of a month for the Newcastle firm.

It comes after Greggs moved into the trendy coffee shop market in September and announced it was to start selling branded sausage rolls in hundreds of Iceland shops.

Earlier this month Greggs chief executive Ken McMeikan said the firm’s aim was to make it easier for both existing and potential customers to get its products.

It seems to be paying off with a general rise in individual customer spend at Greggs outlets to an average £2.30.

following yesterday’s announcement Mr McMeikan said: “Making Greggs even more accessible to consumers as they travel will, I hope, be welcomed by both existing and new customers.”

The trial is being undertaken in two Moto services, the first of which will open in Lymm, Cheshire, in December.

if the first year is successful then Greggs could be rolled out to at least 30 locations across the Moto network.

Mr McMeikan added: “I hope this will be the beginning of a long and successful relationship.”

The trial will see Greggs outlets operated as franchises for the first time and the viability of running stores in this way will also be an important part of the trial.

Tim Moss, Chief Executive of Moto said: “The brand fits within our leading portfolio of franchise partners and offers even more choice for consumers.”

It is another example of recent moves to trial Greggs in new markets.

The decision to extend the sale of frozen Greggs branded sausage rolls to more than 700 Iceland stores followed a three month trial.

It came only a week after the firm opened Greggs Moment, in Newcastle city centre, its first venture into the trendy coffee shop market.

It is also a trial outlet with the potential to be rolled out further should sales go well.

Despite a general decline in footfall on the high street, earlier this month Greggs announced that third-quarter sales to October 1 were up 5.4 per cent and like-for-like sales up 0.8 per cent.

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when the news media say that wall street market is down by 500 points what that means?

It means that the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 500 points.

By Murray Coleman

Gold and silver in futures markets managed to hold slight gains on Thursday. but leading ETFs remain in negative territory.

The most active gold contract for August delivery settled up 0.2% to $1,529.90 an ounce on the Comex.  The SPDR Gold ETF (GLD) is down 0.2% so far.

Silver for July delivery finished up 0.4% to $35.56 an ounce. the iShares Silver ETF (SLV) is down by 1.2%.

Gold futures are about 3% below their high touched in may. but a roughly 1.5% rise in the U.S. Dollar Index this month has helped to pressure both precious metals.

“the truth of the matter is the fund managers, the people who are in this market for the longer run are looking to buy it and it is they who will influence the game. will it go lower? Yes, but this is buy-on-dips territory,” Peter Hillyard, head of metals sales at ANZ Investment Bank, told Reuters today.

Economist Dennis Gartman in his daily note today is suggesting that “gold is strong and growing stronger.”

The ongoing sovereign debt crisis in Europe makes it likely central bankers will increasingly look at gold as a currency as investments in the euro keep falling, he adds.

Gartman also addresses the issue of whether to buy gold or miners. he points to a note by Ian McAvity which observes that Newmont (NEM) and at least one other miner is trading at levels below gold’s 2006 top of $732 an ounce.

Gartman characterized that fact as “shocking, but true.”  He added:

“there will come a time when the gold shares will out-perform gold, but likely that will come when gold’s plunged rather than as gold trades seemingly, relentlessly higher.”

Both the Global X Silver Miners ETF (SIL)  and the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX) are down more than 2% on Thursday.