Portuguese retail conglomerate Sonae is planning to open 90 new stores during 2015, 70 of which are in the food retail sector.
The proximity chain of small grocery stores Meu Super will get another 50 shops, while the Continente brand (primarily the smallest format Continente Bom Dia) will add 20 stores, targeting areas of the country not yet covered. The remaining 20 new stores will spread over the other non-food retail brands of the group (Note, Wells, MO, Worten, Sport Zone and Zippy).
Last year, Sonae opened 108 new stores, 92 of them in the food retail segment, taking its total to 640 supermarkets (own stores and franchising). All the insignias increased their number of stores, with the MeuSuper network doubling its size to 140 stores. In total, Sonae owns 1,235 food and non-food retail stores in Portugal and around the world.
Joint turnover for all of Sonae's units - Sonae MC (food retail) and Sonae SR (non-food retail) - rose 2.7 per cent to €4.75 million in 2014. Sonae MC saw a 1.3 per cent growth in turnover to €3.46 million, with the Continente brand reinforcing its leadership position, with a turnover of €3.46 billion (+1.3% y/y) and additional growth in market share of 1.1 percentage point.
The Continente loyalty card represented more than 90 per cent of sales, while Sonae MC's e-commerce platform achieved 10 per cent growth in online sales.
The results were achieved despite the strong competition in the Portuguese food retail sector, marked by very high levels of promotional activity.
© 2015 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Story by Branislav Pekic
