Coop Denmark's high-end retail chain Irma is to close its last store in the spring of 2024, according to media reports.
The closure, scheduled for the end of this year, has been postponed due to changes to the supermarket concept that is set to replace Irma.
Martin Brinch Jöhncke, acting chain director for Irma, told Danish daily Politiken that the group has been working on the new Coop supermarket concept, which will replace Irma, and in the process it "raised its ambitions a little".
"We are making some bigger changes than we had originally anticipated. Therefore it [is taking] longer," the publication quoted Jöhncke as saying.
Pilot Stores
Coop Denmark plans to test the new concept in two stores, scheduled to open before Christmas.
The locations include SuperBrugsen in Hinnerup and Irma Codanhus in Frederiksberg.
Earlier this year, Coop Denmark announced that it would merge large stores operating under the Kvickly, SuperBrugsen and Irma under the Coop banner as part of its ‘The Coop of the Future’ strategy.
The local stores in Dagli’Brugsen – along with the stores that will not be part of the Coop chain – will in time trade under the Brugsen banner.
Annual Performance
The retailer reported a loss of DKK 628 million (€84.2 million) across its operations in its financial year 2022, which it described as 'the worst year ever' for the group and its independent co-operative associations.
Revenue for the period amounted to DKK 46.9 billion (€6.3 billion) excluding VAT, registering growth of 2% year-on-year.
The company stated that 'large investments' in developing the business, and a decline in consumer confidence affected its performance.
