The Lenta hypermarket chain has decided to change its format; in 2021, instead of large hypermarkets, it will open neighborhood stores. The CEO of the company Vladimir Sorokin told RBC about this in an interview.
The company admitted that now there is an outflow of buyers. “There is no point in denying that the hypermarket segment is shrinking, its market share is falling. For a combination of reasons, people go to discounters,” Sorokin explained. Now in branded hypermarkets more than 30 thousand product names are sold, for new stores the most liquid positions will be chosen from the assortment.
Sorokin did not indicate how many points “Lenta” intends to open this year, but said that the total number of new areas will be at least 100 thousand square meters. According to RBC’s estimates, several hundred small stores can be located on such areas. Historically, Lenta has developed in the hypermarket segment; at the end of 2020, the company owned 254 hypermarkets and 139 supermarkets.
Also, in a conversation with RBC, Sorokin warned about the risks of retail due to state regulation of prices. “If we are forced to sell at a price lower than that at which we should trade from the point of view of the economy, then we incur losses. Accordingly, if we incur losses, then we become an unsuccessful business and, of course, after some time we will go broke”, – explained he.
Auchan also spoke about plans to open stores of a new type. One of the options will be stores without cashiers, where customers will pay and collect their purchases on their own.
The Russian authorities drew attention to the rise in food prices in December 2020. The Ministry of Economic Development said that the rise in prices was provoked by a decline in the harvest, a fall in the ruble exchange rate and an increase in world food prices. As a result, for the first time in recent years, state regulation of food prices has been introduced in the country. Manufacturers and retailers signed an agreement on December 16, according to which, until April 1, 2021, the wholesale price for sugar should not exceed 36 rubles per kilogram, and the wholesale price for sunflower oil should not exceed 95 rubles per liter. Retail prices for sugar and butter should be 46 rubles and 110 rubles, respectively.