Three supermarket chains were the most franchised retail formats in Portugal last year, according to the country's franchising census.
Expresso reports that Sonae’s Meu Super banner leads the list, with 260 franchised stores in 2016 - three more than Dia’s Minipreço, and 27 more than French retailer Intermarché.
Minipreço, which combines the franchise model with its own stores, has been increasing its number of outlets, but Meu Super was the fastest growing brand in terms of franchises in 2016, jumping from 200 to 260 stores. The retailer posted sales of €113 million last year, up 40% from 2015.
Since then, Meu Super has opened more franchise units. It currently has 280 stores and plans to reach 300 by the end of the year.
Franchise Sector
The dominance of the food retail segment is likely to remain in this year's franchise figures, although it will face competition from the real estate segment. Remax, which came fifth on the 2016 list, with 234 franchise units, has since added 27 new outlets and aims to close 2017 with 280.
Last year, the franchise sector in Portugal generated a turnover of €5.16 billion, 5.4% more than in the previous year. Compared to 2013, the growth was 20%, accompanied by an increase in the number of brands in franchise model, growing from 500 in 2013 to 574 in 2016.
© 2017 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.