Supermarket: What the big chains are preparing for 2024

The data that the organized retail market in Greece will face this year are specific. Measurement companies, especially Circana, have forecasted an increase in turnover for basic consumer goods (FMCGs) by about 4.8%. Specifically, in food, the turnover is estimated to increase by about 5.1%, in home care products by 4.5%, and in personal care and beauty products by 3.2%.

At the same time, regarding inflation, the price increases on supermarket shelves for fast-moving consumer goods are expected to be around +4.5%, compared to the +7.3% increases in 2023.

Sklavenitis also looks abroad

As for the individual chains and their performance, Sklavenitis, which closed with double-digit sales growth in 2023, continues and will continue to grow in the coming period, showing that it remains dominant in the Greek market. It should be noted that its turnover at the end of the year just closed flirted with 5 billion euros, up from 4.47 billion euros in 2022. However, the prospect of expansion outside Greek borders has recently been put on the business agenda by members of the Sklavenitis family. Simultaneously, the group continues to explore the Cypriot market with the aim of acquiring a local chain there to expand its presence.

Lidl Hellas: Investments in new stores and logistics

From its side, Lidl has planned total investments exceeding €120 million, directed towards logistics and the sales network for the three-year period 2024 – 2026. Since its arrival in Greece, it has invested more than €1.4 billion in the domestic market. As part of these three-year investments, new stores and new logistics infrastructure will be established. This includes the creation of a new logistics center, in addition to the 4 existing ones, which will be located in Western Attica. Among the new stores to be opened by Lidl Hellas will be one on Messogeion Avenue in Cholargos, at the former Miele headquarters, which it recently acquired. The plan also includes expansion to the Greek islands in areas where it currently has no presence.

AB Vassilopoulos: A return to profitability

AB Vassilopoulos is aiming to return to profitability, following losses incurred in 2022. The company's CEO Nikos Lavidas and the chain's management have attributed this downturn to factors such as the household basket, the legislated cap on profit margins, and high energy costs. In terms of turnover in 2023, it was close to the 2022 turnover, around €1.98 billion. It should be noted that at the end of November, after about two years of construction, the new AB Vassilopoulos store at the Mimikopoulou Foundation - on Kifissia Avenue - with a total area of 3,000 square meters on the ground floor, finally started operating.

My market: Focus on neighborhood stores

My market continues to be a financially sound and discreet business entity, organically growing without aiming for any spectacular acquisitions and maintaining a particularly low leverage ratio. The turnover for 2023 is estimated to be around €1.58 billion, up from €1.5 billion in 2022, with concurrent improvements in profitability. The My market network is expected to grow in the coming years, mainly through the development of My market Local, with a total of 80 stores anticipated to be operational by 2025. Specifically, for 2023, it was planned to open 25 new stores – most of them My market Local – through franchising. In the development plan of METRO Cash & Carry, 1 dark store and 3 hubs are also planned, while the continuous rise of tourism in the country is expected to have a further positive impact on the chain's financial results in the coming years.

The next stop for Masoutis is the Three Bridges

Masoutis, on its part, which inaugurated its 390th store in Vouliagmenis Avenue in Glyfada last December with a surface area of 1,800 sqm, is preparing to open another – larger – store in the next period in the Three Bridges area. In 2023, the chain reached a turnover of €1.1 billion with an EBITDA of €75 million, and it plans further expansion both in Attica and the Peloponnese, where a new store recently opened in Patras. The creation of a privately-owned warehouse in Attica is also a challenge for the chain, as following the sale of the chain it had acquired during the acquisition of Prometheytiki, the network is supplied from the central warehouses in Kavalari, Thessaloniki.