stores

After the war brake in 2022, when the war broke out in Ukraine, the Mere supermarket chain of Russian interests is stepping on the gas again, “locking” the European market.

Yesterday the decision of the assembly of the super discounter, which is looking for ground floor stores in Athens and Thessaloniki, for the 8th increase in the company’s share capital in the last 5 years, was posted on GEMI.

With the brothers Sergey and Andrey Shnayder as partners and Valeriy Iakovlev with a smaller percentage, the share capital of Torg – Hellas IKE, which manages the Mere supermarket chain in the Greek market, now reaches 2,245,000 euros.

We remind you that the first (and only to date) Russian discount supermarkets of the invisible Shnayder family opened in our country in 2021 and of the 5 that were there, 4 remain in Agrinio, Corinth, Larissa and Tripoli, as the store in Lagadas, in Thessaloniki, closed . The original plan, as presented to the chain’s suppliers, envisaged the creation of 80 stores in Greece.

As it seems now, the chain is coming back and even targeting the two largest markets of the country: Athens and Thessaloniki.

Specifically, based on an advertisement posted on the company’s official website, shops are being sought for rent in the capital and the co-capital, which must be close to settlements or a short distance from them, in industrial zones, near busy roads, have clean space of sales from 650 to 1,100 sq.m., to be on the ground floor, to be able to install a cold room of 8%-10% of the interior area, the floor to withstand a load of at least 3 tons per sq.m. etc.

European expansion and problems

The aspirations of the retail chain Svetofor from the depths of Siberia, which owns the brand Mere, to expand again in the old continent, include countries other than Greece, such as Hungary and Belgium.

However, in Belgium the shareholders of the Russian discount chain, which bet on prices, claiming to be 20-40% cheaper than the competition, instead of the Mere brand, are now expanding under a new name: MyPrice.

In fact, foreign press reports state that although it belongs to Russian interests, the chain is not worried about Western sanctions, while there is no Russian product in the chain’s brochures.

But there are still problems. The announcement by the Russian discount supermarket MyPrice that the opening of the fourth and fifth Belgian stores is imminent was probably a little premature. Both stores face unforeseen problems: the opening of Antwerp has been delayed, while the mayor of Bertrix refused permission to open MyPrice in his city.

Mere’s European expansion came to an ignominious, but temporary, end in 2022 due to sanctions imposed after the Russia-Ukraine war.

Two years ago many stores were forced to close in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom.

Svetofor (in Russian means traffic light) was founded in 2009 in the city of Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, and to date has opened approximately 2,500 stores in 20 countries, including Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Russia, China, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania , Vietnam, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Serbia, Spain and Greece.

Despite facing some international sanctions, Mere (known as Svetofor in Russia) is enjoying financial success. According to press reports, its revenue increased by 40% last year, reaching 5 billion euros.

The simple approach

The retailer operates in a similar way to Aldi and Lidl, albeit with a more simplified model, offering a limited selection of around 1,500 everyday food and non-food codes at significantly discounted prices.

This is achieved through direct partnerships with industry and strict cost controls.

As stated by the chain itself, “We offer suppliers automatic payments every week for what has been sold during its lifetime. The cooperation is transparent and honest. There are no hidden fees or retroactive discounts. The prices stated in the supply contract are the prices that the supplier receives in his bank account.”

With damages in Greece

Based on the last published balance sheet of the chain in the Greek market (2022 year), sales of Torg – Hellas IKE increased to 4.85 million euros from 2.242 million euros in 2021, while net losses narrowed to 609,990 euros from losses of 995,131 euros in 2021. In the financial year in question, equity was negative by 22,453 euros.

Source OT