Central & Eastern Europe news & analysis

Lidl continues its fast expansion both physically and digitally with new store openings and category specific ecommerce. 11,000 th store opened The discounter reached the 11,000 stores’ milestone thanks to its latest store openings in Serbia, Poland and the UK. The pace of its expansion is unlikely to slow in 2020, with strong opening plans set out for some of its major markets, such as th...

As part of its aim to create an omnichannel universe of reference, Carrefour is investing heavily in its ecommerce and digital channels. As part of this it is looking to encourage further shoppers online and drive growth in specific categories. We round up developments from the retailer as it looks to meet this aim across its operations in Europe. Carrefour to take advantage of Singles Day ...

In October 2019 we attended X5 Retail Group’s capital market day in London to learn about its plans for the future of the business. The retailer announced ambitious targets to double its market share to around 20% by 2029, with 50% of its revenue being generated in its digital businesses. X5’s 2029 vision is to almost double market share The retailer plans to reach a market share to 20% by ...

Gruppo 3A partners with Despar Italia to expand its operational plans. Separately, Carrefour partners with Coldiretti to promote 100% Italian products in Italy and internationally. Meanwhile, Supermercato24 acquires Poland-based Szopi to accelerate its regional expansion strategy. Gruppo 3A partners with Despar Italia From 1 January 2020 Gruppo 3A will partner with Despar Italia. The partne...

Jerónimo Martins has announced a positive sales performance for Q3 2019.   Positive Q3 results Jerónimo Martins’ consolidated sales increased by 8.7% with like-for-like (LFL) performance of 6.2%, in Q3 2019. Group net profit increased 3.5% to €302m, despite the impact of the additional Sunday closures in Poland. Net profit in Q3 2019 grew 8% compared to Q3 2018. Division performance J...

We round up the latest news from SPAR International partners in the Netherlands, Slovenia, Gran Canaria and Sri Lanka. The Netherlands opens its 150 th SPAR Express store The 150 th store is located in Eemnes, in the province of Ultrecht. It caters to quick, convenience shopper missions by offering a range of freshly prepared sandwiches, pizzas, pancakes as well as smoothies and yoghurts....

Kaufland has entered another market, by opening two stores in the Moldovan capital city, Chisinau, in September 2019. This has been a three-year process for the retailer after it began investigating opportunities to enter the market in 2016. Kaufland has invested €60m in the country so far. Kaufland plans to open to 15 stores nationwide The retailer is ready to open a third store, with plan...

At its H1 results presentation, Tesco has shared new detail about the restructure of its Polish operations, its largest business in central Europe. Speculation on Tesco Poland sale quashed with more restructuring plans The restructure plan builds on Matt Simister’s, (Tesco Europe CEO’s), recently completed  three-year transformation programme that focused on reducing the size of its larger...

Tesco has announced H1 results, with group sales rising by 0.1%, or by 0.4% at constant exchange rates. Like-for-like (LFL) sales fell by 0.4% at a group level. As part of the announcement, Tesco also said that its group chief executive, Dave Lewis, was to step down and would leave the business in summer 2020. Headline results Group sales: +0.1% to £28.3 bn (+0.4% at constant exchange ra...

We round up the latest news from SPAR International partners in Georgia, Zimbabwe and Hungary as they expand their store presence. Georgia: 150 th store opening Since its expansion into the market in 2014, SPAR Georgia has grown its store presence at a fast rate. Between 2017 and 2018, the retailer’s store count doubled. There have also already been 51 stores openings in 2019. Most recentl...