Italian regional retailer Maiora will invest €70 million during 2020 on new store openings, the refurbishment of existing outlets and the expansion of its e-commerce services.
Six openings are planned for 2020, which includes the recently opened Eurospar in Pescara and the upcoming Interspar in Silvi Marina near Teramo.
Twenty existing stores will be restyled – following the reopening of an Interspar store in Scalea near Cosenza, work is now underway on the Despar store in Lamezia Terme near Catanzaro.
Turnover Gains
The retailer expects that the expansion project will boost group turnover by 20% to €1 billion by the end of the year.
In comparison, last year’s turnover amounted to €805.5 million, an increase of €30 million year-on-year. In the first half of 2020, revenue grew by 15% on the same period in 2019.
E-Commerce Expansion
Maiora’s e-commerce service desparacasa.it, launched in 2019, has seen 25 per cent growth in 2020. During the Covid-19 pandemic, eight new locations were activated in record time, while in the subsequent 'post-emergency' phase demand has stabilized, although the number of users is greater than in the pre-Covid period.
The service is active in over 20 locations in the Puglia, Basilicata, Abruzzo and Calabria regions, to which will soon be added the cities of Barletta, Nardò and Brindisi.
Maiora is the Despar concessionaire for Central and South Italy, where it operates 472 stores (directly owned and affiliated) under the Despar, Eurospar and Interspar banners.
© 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
