Main picture by Alexander Petrosyan
The Russians are going to war on the world!
The world of retail that is …
Lidl-style supermarkets are set to give us all massive discounts on products of up to 30 per cent. But there will be a price to pay of course and that could be second-hand shop fittings, a ban on the sale of newspapers and magazines – very Russian – and with suppliers expected to deliver directly to stores.
Oh, and there will be fewer than 10 members of staff in branches with 10,000 sq ft and a lot of goods will be sold from pallets.
The company behind the new no-frills-at-all stores is Mere, and it is ready to open stores all over Europe – including the UK and Slovakia – as it takes on the Germans like Lidl, Aldi.
Mere was founded in 2009 at the same time as Lidl arrived in the UK targetting the recession. It is known as Svetofor in Russia.
It has 3,200 stores internationally and has been opening in Europe since 2018 in Germany, Poland, Romania, Lithuania, Latvia and Ukraine. It plans to expand in Italy, Spain, Greece, Slovakia and Bulgaria.
It’s already confirmed plans to open its first four UK outlets this summer, and now new listings online reveal where the chain is considering setting up shop.
Mere’s website says: “At the moment, despite coronavirus, we are actively involved with landlords, their representatives and agents with the aim to open our Mere retail stores ASAP.”
The locations listed as reported by The Grocer are: Devon, Stockport, Neath, Banbury, Selby, Bradford, Middlesbrough, Grantham, Kettering, Plymouth, Beckenham, Gloucester, Northampton, Cardiff, Oswestry, Barnsley, Sheffield, Exeter, Stretford, Southampton, south Scotland and Wales.
The discounter is looking for sites of around 10,000 sq ft, with parking spaces for 30-40 cars and a local population of 60,000 or more. Stores will have a walk-in chiller room to help keep costs down.
The website also says the retailer is looking for “used freezers” and “shopping carts”.
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