Italy’s Conad has rolled out a new large format store concept in Milan, featuring a range of additional products and services.
The first Spazio Conad has been opened in Vimodrome, in the Milan metropolitan area, on the site of a former Auchan Italia store, and boasts a sales area of 10,000 square metres.
The store stocks around 50,000 SKUs, and features 39 checkouts, several of which are self-checkouts and self-scanning terminals.
As in other Conad stores, priority is given to fresh and local products, as well as gourmet foods and food to go. A large assortment of non-food products is available in a number of specialised areas (PetStore, Parapharmacy and Optics), while the store also features a new Health and Wellness section.
Concept Rollout
The new banner will be used for all large stores with sales areas of 3,500 square meters and up. According to the retailer, seven Spazio Conad stores (including Vimodrone) will be opened between the end of 2020 and the first months of 2021.
The investment in the first Spazio Conad store amounted to €10 million and the goal is to reach a turnover of €70 million.
According to general manager Francesco Avanzini, Spazio Conad is a pilot for a "new generation" of hypermarkets, based on three main themes: food experience, family and free time, and health and wellness.
Conad chief executive Francesco Pugliese added that while hypermarkets have received negative publicity in recent years, the format is still successful “if it evolves and offers a wider range of goods and services".
© 2020 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
