Russian retailer Lenta has confirmed that, as part of its ongoing expansion plans, it opened 40 new hypermarkets and 49 new supermarkets across the country in 2017.
These new openings saw the retail group increase its selling space by 20.6%, bringing its total store network to 231 hypermarkets and 97 supermarkets by the end of the year. This includes the 14 hypermarkets in Moscow previously operated under the Nash brand, which were taken over by Lenta last summer.
“2017 proved to be a very successful year for Lenta,” said chief executive officer Jan Dunning.
“Despite a rather challenging situation in the consumer market, we succeeded in delivering on the guidance we provided for our expansion programme at the start of the year,” Dunning added.
Future Growth
This year, Lenta says that it will continue to consolidate its position in Moscow through its contract with ADG Group, enabling the lease of 36 new supermarkets scheduled to open in 2018.
It will also expand in Siberia, through the acquisition of 22 stores from Holiday Group that are set to reopen in February and March.
In November, the retail chain also joined the EMD buying group, which, it said, will enable the company to enhance its private-label ranges going forward, with new international deals.
“In 2017, we successfully completed three landmark deals which have already strengthened our market position, enabling accelerated growth in the future,” said Dunning.
“We are well on track to achieving our long-term goal of becoming a top-three food retailer in Russia, and mostly rely on organic growth in both of our formats,” he added.
Lenta is currently the largest hypermarket chain in Russia, and the country’s fourth-largest retail chain overall.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Sarah Harford. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
