Store openings and refurbishments fell by 27% in Spain last year, new data from RetailData.es has found.
According to the data, which was presented by trade association ASEDAS, the Spanish Association of Distributors, Self-Service and Supermarkets, some 825 new stores opened last year, along with 1,300 refurbishments, which is well above the 692 new openings in 2019 and just under the 848 new stores that opened in 2020.
However, growth during the year 2021 was significant due to the recovery of projects that were pending during the pandemic, with new store (+1,067) and store renovation (1,779) numbers surging.
In fact, 2021 set the record for the most openings and the most refurbishments in the last four years, the data showed.
ASEDAS Members
A total of 6,530 stores were opened or refurbished in the last four years in supermarket and self-service format, with ASEDAS members accounting for 73% of these figures.
Companies operating in municipalities of less than 10,000 inhabitants, mainly in the form of franchises or cooperatives, accounted for more than 20% of new openings.
“The difficulties we have experienced in recent years, with the pandemic and the current cost crisis, are reflected in the map of food distribution store openings," commented Ignacio García Magarzo, director general of ASEDAS. "Despite this, the conclusion at the end of 2022 is that the sector maintains a sustained dynamism."
© 2022 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest Retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
