AddThis Sharing ButtonsShare to TwitterTwitterShare to FacebookFacebookShare to RedditRedditShare to 電子郵件Email Canada’s largest grocer is trying out a new discount small-store format in a bid to attract more customers in urban areas.Loblaw Cos. Ltd. (TSX:L) said it opened the new 10,000-square foot store a few weeks ago in Calgary.The location, named Box by No Frills, offers “hard discounts and an everyday low price” on groceries and other merchandise, Sarah Davis, Loblaw’s chief financial officer said in a conference call Wednesday.“We are trying that as a pilot to see, ‘Is it something that we can infill in a lot of areas of Canada because it’s only 10,000 square feet?’ ” she told investors from the company’s Brampton, Ont., headquarters.Loblaw’s discount chain of stores, No Frills, are typically 25,000 square feet. The company also operates a number of other banners, including Real Canadian Superstore, which has a large format and wide range of general merchandise in addition to groceries.The new Box format is being tested as the company creates one of Canada’s largest commercial real estate trusts with its grocery property assets, and prepares for stiffer competition from Target, Wal-Mart Canada and Sobey’s, which recently announced a $5.8-billion deal to buy Safeway Inc. in Western Canada.Davis said if the small-box format is successful, the grocery chain will buy new property to develop them into more locations under the Box banner.“From that perspective, it’s not reformating properties that have gone into the REIT, but trying out new formats with new real estate,” said Davis.Loblaw first announced plans to turn its properties into a REIT last December.It values its property holdings at $7 billion and said the trust will help the company optimize the value its real estate portfolio, lower the cost of capital for real estate and increase the speed of development of new retail sites.The new Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust will hold 415 retail properties, one office complex and nine warehouse properties totalling 35.3 million square feet of gross leasable area.Loblaw, which will own a stake in Choice, is Canada’s largest grocer with more than 1,000 corporate and franchised stores from coast to coast. The company and its franchisees employ approximately 134,000 full-time and part-time employees.Among the companies banners are: Loblaws, Zehrs, Provigo, Fortinos, Liquorstore and SaveEasy and among its brands are President’s Choice, No Name and the Joe Fresh line of clothing. Loblaw tests out new smaller discount grocery store format in Calgary by Linda Nguyen, The Canadian Press Posted Jun 19, 2013 11:50 am MDT
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Important Chuquicamata Underground ore transportation order for TAKRAF
TAKRAF, the integrated solutions provider to the global mining, material handling and minerals processing industries, has recently been awarded the supply of the principal ore transportation system for the Chuquicamata Underground Mine Project by Codelco.Chuquicamata is the second deepest open-pit mine in the world and is located 1,650 km north of Santiago, Chile. The Underground Mine Project is being developed to access the ore body situated beneath the present open-pit mine and aims to extend mining operations for a further 40 years. The new mine is scheduled to be in operation in 2019.TAKRAF’s innovative belt conveyor system will overcome a number of technical challenges including significant elevation change from the underground mine to the surface, and will comprise a variety of uphill tunnel conveyors that transport copper ore from underground storage bins. The system will also include a number of feeder conveyors as well as an overland conveyor feeding into the existing conveying system.The conveyor system will be installed with advanced gearless drive technology with the uphill tunnel conveyors boasting the highest drive power ever to be installed on a belt conveyor. In fact, total installed drive power for the entire system will be around 55 MW. Gearless drives eliminate the need for a gearbox, hereby significantly reducing the number of main wear parts. This results in increased efficiency and reliability, as well as less maintenance being required. Further advantages include a considerable reduction in the drive system’s footprint and the amount of instrumentation required.Safety, as well as the ease and speed of maintenance are critical success factors for a project of this nature. TAKRAF’s innovative chute maintenance solution will allow for all regular chute maintenance to be conducted from outside the chute, with no person having to enter the chute. This is a particularly important safety point, especially in underground environments.Another significant achievement will be the installation of a newly developed steel cord belt, ST10000, on the uphill tunnel conveyors. This will mark the world’s very first conveyor system to employ this premier steel cord belt technology. The conveyor system will boast a design capacity of more than 10,000 t/h and, in order to manage and dissipate intense heat generated by the system, a complex cooling system has been included in the project scope, which requires that no heat be dissipated to the underground environment. TAKRAF´s total scope includes a variety of engineering disciplines as well as various components’ supply and extensive site assistance.“This order is another significant milestone for TAKRAF in the Chilean copper industry and we look forward to supporting CODELCO in their aim of being the world’s leading supplier of copper. Our industry-leading conveying technology and proprietary material handling equipment are widely used by customers around the world. Our customers are increasingly demanding innovative and cost-effective solutions to global issues as ore reserves are depleted and mines are required to dig deeper”, says Dr Frank Hubrich, TAKRAF’s CEO.