Italian food retail giant Conad has taken over local supermarket chain Marzi & Fulignati, expanding its presence in Italy’s Tuscany region.
From 2024, all five of Marzi & Fulignati’s stores, of which three are located in Empoli, one in Sovigliana, and one in Capraia, will convert to the Conad banner.
The agreement involves Marzi & Fulignati purchasing shares in Conad Pistoia, a local Conad cooperative, which is a member of cooperative Conad Nord-Ovest, based in Pistoia.
As a result, Conad will now have four stores in the municipality of Empoli, the same number as rival Coop.
The acquisition will enhance the commercial offer as well as the availability of local products in the fresh department among others, the retailer said in a statement.
'Freedom Of Movement'
The publication www.lanazione.it quoted Roberto Marzi, managing director of Marzi & Fulignati, saying, "The brand will disappear, but everything else will remain unchanged. By purchasing shares in the cooperative, we will become part of Conad in all respects, but the agreement will provide us with the freedom of movement that will allow us not to change our nature."
Marzi added, "We will therefore maintain our local suppliers, services such as home shopping, and that proximity character that has always characterised us, just as we will maintain all employees and our skills."
Empoli-based Marzi & Fulignati was founded in 1957 by Marino Marzi and Giuseppe Fulignati as a wholesale distributor of sweets and liqueurs. Since then, the banner has expanded and become a reference point for grocery shoppers in the entire Empoli area.
