Demand for low-cost products drives Pepco's growth

Starting from last October and within a few months, Pepco's network expanded with 8 locations in Athens, Thessaloniki, Larissa, and Corinth. It also reached an agreement with Premia Properties for a ten-year lease of a new store on Lavriou Avenue in Paiania. The Polish chain continues its development of physical stores without stopping for a moment, with a focus on reaching 200 stores throughout Greece.

In the first half of the year, it had already counted 16 points of sale, from Athens and Thessaloniki to Larissa, Xanthi, Corinth, Kilkis, and Veria, with an increasing pace, opening almost one store every 17 days.

In every major Greek city

Pepco's strategic plan is to bring its brand and product mix to every major city in the country. This plan led the leadership team in Greece to devise their next plans for new stores in Kalamata, Patras, and Volos, where they plan to establish a presence by the end of the year.

Furthermore, they expect to open stores in Agia Paraskevi on Mesogeion Avenue, Piraeus, and Argos by the end of September.

Pepco aims to expand its presence to the major islands of our country, such as Crete and Rhodes, by 2024. This specific focus is based on the fact that as an internationally recognized brand, Pepco aspires to attract consumers due to the increased popularity of these two islands, which attract millions of visitors from around the world every year.

Also in Trade Estates commercial parks

After the successful operation of the first Pepco store in Greece, located at TopParks Peiraios, which exceeded all performance expectations, Pepco decided to continue its collaboration with the commercial park arm of Trade Estates, a subsidiary of the Fourlis Group.

Specifically, the Polish brand is expected to expand to two new locations in Thessaloniki and Ioannina. The Pepco store at Commercial Park Florida 1 in Pylaia, Thessaloniki, with a total area of 676 square meters, is expected to start operating in August 2023. Florida 1 is one of the largest commercial parks in Greece, spanning an area of 132,000 square meters, with a total commercial space of 32,000 square meters.

Furthermore, another location is scheduled to open at the TopParks Ioannina Commercial Park by the end of July 2023. This specific store, with a total area of 507 square meters, is located on the ground floor of the park, which extends to a total commercial space of 27,200 square meters and will also house IKEA, H&M, and two other international clothing companies.

The product portfolio and the target group drive the location selection

From the beginning, the ambition of the chain was to compete with Jumbo in the field of low-cost products. The main drivers of its sales in Greece are mainly clothing and household items priced at a maximum of 30 euros, which seem to be the main attraction for buyers.

Pepco offers a wide range of products belonging to approximately 500 categories. Clothing and footwear account for about 60% of the chain's available merchandise, while the remaining percentage covers household equipment, home decoration, and other products such as toys, with seasonal collections also available.

The target group mainly consists of women around 39 years old, with one or two children. Nine out of ten Pepco customers (92%) use the internet, and over half of them (55%) have children aged 14 and below. The income of Pepco customers amounts to 476 euros per individual and 1,195 euros per household. Around 66% of customers plan their visits to Pepco and visit the stores an average of 3.5 times per month.

All these customers are consumers with specific purchasing power who frequently visit shopping centers, retail parks, and stores, as well as supermarkets located on avenues with access to densely populated areas. This fact leads Pepco to choose corresponding locations, such as next to large Sklavenitis or AB Vassilopoulos stores (as in Lavriou Avenue in Paiania), as well as collaborations with other major retailers, such as Public. Pepco already has two locations in Thessaloniki, and another one is expected to open on Syngrou Avenue in Kallithea in a few days.