Spar has bought 11 former Somerfield stores, following the Co-operative Group's acquisition.The retailer will convert the stores to its Eurospar format. The shops range from 5,000 sq ft to 10,000 sq ft, and Eurospar differs to Spar in that basket spend is higher to accommodate a bigger family weekly shop alongside a traditional convenience store

Upmarket northern supermarket chain Booths has taken a leaf out of Tesco’s book by launching a range of tertiary discount products. The ‘discounts brands’ range includes more than 170 lines, from Enliven shampoo to Bokomo cereal, and stretches across all grocery categories including rice, biscuits, hairspray, soap, coffee and whisky. In health and beauty, prices for handwash, mouthwash, shower gel and shampoo start at 98p, while in household cleaning and soft drinks, prices start at 49p. “Booths isn’t just about blue-rinse ladies driving Jaguars,” said chairman Edwin Booth. “We have a lot of customers who love food and drink but are on a tight budget. This will help us retain customers.”

Tesco chief executive Sir Terry Leahy has argued that the government should ease regulatory burdens on retailers to offer them help during the recession. Leahy said that extra trade tariffs and red tape should not be imposed on businesses and called for further cuts in interest rates, along with easier credit conditions.

Waitrose and Tesco are among a host of retailers that have snapped up stores from the Co-operative Group following its £1.57bn acquisition of Somerfield. Waitrose has bought 13 stores, Tesco has bought seven and Musgrave Group and Spar have snapped up six apiece. Morrisons announced last month that it had bought 34 stores, while a further 24 outlets were sold to various buyers in December. On Friday the Office of Fair Trading said the Somerfield takeover, which was agreed in July last year, would not be referred to the Competition Commission because the Co-op Group had accepted undertakings to address local competition issues.

Morrisons is set to post sales growth of at least 8% this Thursday, according to analysts. Experts have predicted the company's level of growth has been maintained thanks to strong advertising campaigns featuring Richard Hammond and Denise Van Outen.

Sainsbury's is going to stop selling eggs from battery hens in early February, becoming the first major supermarket to ban them. Eggs only from uncaged birds will be stocked in the chain's stores from 5 February, even though a European Union ban on battery eggs is not enforced until 2012. Half a million hens will now not be placed in battery cages, Sainsbury's said.

Advertising regulators have rapped UK supermarket group Asda over an advert comparing product prices with rival Morrisons. The press and television adverts involved a product price comparison with rival Morrisons, which complained to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) claiming the adverts were misleading. The adverts said 2,955 branded products at Asda were cheaper than at Morrisons and the prices had been checked independently by sources including mySupermarket.co.uk.

ALDI plans aggressive expansion in the U.S., opening at least 75 stores this year. The company will change its formula slightly, including adding more produce. more on this story