Lithuania-based Maxima Grupė plans to open between 120 and 140 new outlets during 2019, with the majority of new openings to be based in Poland.
Maxima Grupė operates the Maxima retail chain in the Baltics, the Stokrotka chain in Poland and the T-Market chain in Bulgaria.
Major Investment
The company plans to invest around €100 million next year towards the expansion and renewal of stores, it said.
“Next year we plan active expansion, with the main focus on Poland,” commented Maxima Grupė chairman and CEO Dalius Misiūnas.
“That market of 38 million people is attractive for its size and its growth and consolidation potential.”
Misiūnas added that the merger of the Stokrotka retail chain, which the group acquired earlier this year, coupled with the Aldik business it already owned, has “laid strong foundation for further growth in that neighboring country. We plan to maintain a fast pace of growth there in the coming years.”
Focus On Convenience
Much of the investment will be focused on the convenience channel, he said, with more consumers looking for a quick and easy shopping experience.
“In those stores, they want to find not just basic necessities, but also freshly prepared and take-away food,” Misiūnas said.
As of the end of October, Maxima Grupė owned 1059 stores, of which, 507 were in Poland. By the end of this year, the company plans to open a total of about 50 more new stores in all the markets in which it operates.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
