Economy
Aldi and Penny Market expand the most aggressively in Hungary
- Aldi is going to expand its network by 12 units this year, eight of which have already been opened and the remaining four will be opened in December. This makes Aldi the most actively growing retail chain on the Hungarian market.
- Penny Market has opened seven new stores by October, expanding its network to 207 units. It has also laid the foundation stone to its third local logistics centre in Veszprém last month. That particular investment will cost the company HUF 7.7 billion.
- Lidl opened one store in Hungary this year, but refurbished 17 others of its 165-strong network.
- SPAR has added four new stores to its network and modernised another 26, investing a total of HUF 23 billion. It is also focusing on the expansion of its franchise network and the launch of its online sales system at the end of next year.
- Auchan had web sales at the focal point of its expansion strategy this year, and the company has launched online sales on 10 November.
- Tesco shrank further after last year’s closures, dropping the curtain on one unit this year in Budapest. Additionally, the company sign an agreement with Media Markt that the electronics chain will open two new stores at Tesco hypermarkets in Győr and Veszprém, which is not a sign of expansion, either.
The market share of discount retail chains in food retailing has probably grown further this year, as their friendly prices and the quality of their products attract an ever larger number of consumers.
If different government measures were not impeding the growth of retail chains, their expansion would probably be even faster.Under regulations in effect since 2012 (dubbed ‘plaza ban’ or ‘plaza stop’), there was a ban on the construction of retail stores larger than 300 square metres. As of 2015, the restriction applies to stores larger than 400 sqm. However, in certain cases you may get exempted, and nothing bans chains from taking over an already operating unit or move to the vacated premises of another store in a shopping mall, for instance.
According to blokkk.com information, the aforementioned discount chains could cherry-pick primarily from the ailing units of Hungarian chains. In most of the cases, ALDI was the one to move in, but Penny Market and SPAR have also replaced several locally-owned units.
According to the portal, the number of CBA, Coop and Reál stores decreased by about 500 between 2013 and 2015. CBA suffered the largest hit, and saw one of its northern regional centres, the wholesaler Palóc Nagykereskedelmi Ltd. collapse.
