BILLA

Large retail chains have reassured that no shortage of food and essential goods is expected due to the cases of coronavirus in Bulgaria. This was made clear by a message from the Modern Trade Association. Billa, Deichman, DM, Kaufland, Lidl, Pro market, Hippoland, Mr. Bricolage и T-Market are members of the Association.

Six of the largest retail chains in Bulgaria - Billa, dm, Kaufland, Lidl, Mr. Bricolage and T MARKET have invested BGN 16, 5 million in environmental sustainability in the last year alone. Separately, they have donated over BGN 1 million to support over 50 social initiatives, driven by the drive to improve the lives of people in Bulgaria.

Demand for modern commercial properties in Bulgaria is at record highs, Colliers International reports. The total utilized area is 21 900 square meters, and thus the first half of the year marks levels not seen since 2015. The analysis includes shopping centers over 10,000 sq.m.

The progressive development of online commerce globally has not significantly affected the demand for modern commercial properties in the capital in the first half of 2019. On the contrary, it has reached record levels on a half-year basis since 2015. The total utilized area for the period under review is 21,900 sq.m. This is stated in the latest report by Colliers International.

Seven of the leading retail chains in Bulgaria have invested more than $ 3.8 billion and hired around 5,500 new employees in 2017. The bulk of these investments were aimed at expanding the network of Kaufland, Billa, Lidl, dm, METRO, T-Market and Deichmann on the Bulgarian market, according to a survey of the Modern Commerce Association, which includes the seven chains.

More than 50% of the goods in seven of the largest retail chains in Bulgaria are supplied by domestic producers, and in some categories, the share of the local production reaches 75%.

The local subsidiaries of international IT specialists, Milestone Systems and Atos, will open their offices in the new multifunctional Garitage Park complex in the capital of Bulgaria. Along with them, there will be a center for EuroCorc specialized services. These are the new tenants who will join the complex, says an official announcement.

Competition among different large retail food chains in Croatia - both foreign and domestic - is not resulting in cheaper prices for consumers, Tanja Popovic Filipovic, head of the Centre for Educating and Informing Consumers told BIRN, after the Dutch company entered Croatian retail market.

Bulgaria's Commission for Protection of Competition (KZK) has launched a probe into a suspected cartel agreement between four foreign retail chains operating in the country.

German corporation REWE Group, represented in Bulgaria by two popular supermarket chains BILLA and PENNY Market is allegedly in the process of selling their locations across Bulgaria.

According to unconfirmed information reported by Kapital daily, the procedures have already been launched and the results will be visible in less than two months.