Chain store

Opening one store a day - sometimes more than one - Poland's retail discount chain, Pepco, currently has 2,922 stores in 16 European countries, while from October it will add the Greek market to its portfolio.

The big supermarket chains in Greece are seeking a share of a market estimated at 9.5 billion euros per year. This is the small and medium-sized retail market (minimarkets and specialized stores), which currently boasts a considerable share of more than 50 percent of retailing.

Bulgaria's Parliament passed at second reading amendments to the Competition Protection Act regarding the large retail chains, reports Dnevnik.bg.

The amendments will regulate the business relations between the large retail chains and the suppliers and will impose a number of restrictions on the chains. 

If amendments to the Competition Protection Act as they are, prices in the FMCG retail chains will go up by 10%, Dimitar Spasov, CEO of Kaufland Bulgaria, told the 24 Chasa daily. 

The entry of the modern retail chains in Bulgaria brought mostly benefits to the country's economy, shows a survey of the Institute for Market Economy (IME). 

Their presence in the country “legalized” the turnovers of the retail trade, and brought BGN 5 B to the economy in the period 2004 – 2013. In the same period those chains paid BGN 1 B in VAT. 

There is an increased risk of drastic food price hikes in Bulgaria because of Government's actions against the modern retail chains. 

According to Yordan Mateev, executive director of the Modern Retail Association, the draft amendments to the Competition Protection Act would affect not only the retail sector, but all business activities.