Russian convenience operator Mercury Retail Group has announced the opening of its 15,000th store.
The group hit the milestone with the opening of nine new stores, bringing the total selling space across the Mercury Retail estate to more than 1.1 million square metres.
The group operates the Red&White and Bristol banner across Russia.
In a statement, the retailer said, 'Mercury Retail is pursuing a long-term strategy focused on rapid expansion of the store network to capitalise on significant market potential and strong demand among Russian consumers for its value proposition.
'The company pioneered ultra-convenience retail in the Russian market, with compact stores located close to consumers and offering the best prices across a highly focused assortment of daily essential goods.'
Mercury Retail opened a total of 2,109 net new stores in 2021, and plans to increase its store count by at least 2.500 over the course of this year. The retailer is the third-largest in Russia by store count.
Planned IPO Postponed
Last November, Mercury Retail announced plans to postpone a proposed IPO, citing 'current market conditions'.
The group also recently named a new board of directors, incorporating the group's three majority shareholders – Igor Kesaev, Sergei Studennikov and Sergei Katsiev – as well as three independent non-executive directors: Valli Perera, Natalia Barsegiyan and William Pritchett.
Commenting at the time, Mercury Retail said that it 'welcomes [the new independent directors] to the board and looks forward to their substantial contributions to the continued success of the company'.
© 2022 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.
