Italian retail cooperative CIA-Conad is to invest more than €300 million in new store openings and the restructuring of existing stores.
The details of the development plan for the period 2019-2020 were released during the company's annual General Assembly in Cesena.
New store openings in 2019 include superstores in Pinarella di Cervia (opening on 30 May) and Morciano di Romagna and two Conad City stores in Santa Maria Nuova (FC) and Solarolo (RA).
Over the next few months, total or partial restructuring work will also be carried out on about 40 outlets, with the addition of new departments, overall modernisation and structural and energy improvements.
Work will also continue on the construction of a new headquarters in Forlì and the expansion of the group's warehouses.
Sales Performance
In 2018, CIA-Conad reported 2.68% like-for like growth and a growth of 3.53% of its current store network (including new openings).
Total turnover surpassed €1.58 billion, which increases to €1.65 billion if various concept stores are included (bars/restaurants, pet store and petrol stations).
The cooperative ended the year with 220 stores in the Emilia-Romagna, Marche, Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia regions, distributed among the various store banners: Iper (3), Conad Superstore (30), Conad (56), Conad City (116) and Spesa Facile (15).
The market share of CIA-Conad in territories where it is present rose from 12.9% to 13.25%, according to Nielsen data.
The sale of Conad private label products also continued to grow, accounting for 38.4% of customer purchases.
Merger
Meanwhile, Italy’s Antitrust Authority (AGCM) has approved the merger of Conad del Tirreno and NordiConad into a new company called Conad Nord Ovest, based in Pistoia.
Nordiconad is present in the provinces of Alessandria, Aosta, Asti, Biella, Bologna, Cuneo, Ferrara, Genova, Imperia, Mantova, Modena, Novara, Savona, Torino, Verbano-Cusio-Ossola and Vercelli.
Conad del Tirreno, meanwhile, is active in Arezzo, Cagliari, Florence, Grosseto, La Spezia, Livorno, Lucca, South Sardinia, Massa-Carrara, Nuoro, Oristano, Pisa, Pistoia, Prato, Sassari, Siena and parts of Rome and Viterbo.
The merger is part of a wider rationalisation plan which will see the reduction of the number of Conad cooperatives from seven to four by the end of 2019.
Plans also call for the merger of CIA-Conad and Conad Centro Nord into Conad Nord Est; Pac2000A and Conad Sicilia to merge to create Conad Sud Ovest; and Conad Adriatico to become Conad Sud Est.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
