Briefs

Wilbo seafood shop chain

Wilbo Seafood are about to embark upon a new scheme: a seafood bar chain which will consist of 40-50 outlets around Poland. Wilbo, a seafood processor from Władysławowo, is soon to open its first five outlets which will be largely supplied with their own products. The project will require an investment of several tens of millions zlotys and will be partly franchised should economic conditions be unfavourable.

Neinver Polska to open 'Factory' outlets in regions

Neinver Polska, whose parent company is the Spanish-based Neinver, is to expand its operations in Poland and plans to open more of its 'Factory' outlets in cities such as Wrocław, Kraków, Szczecin and Poznań, as well as another in Warsaw. The current operation in Ursus in the capital's suburbs sells a range of brands under its roof at very low prices.

German furniture retailer opens store in Warsaw

The German furniture retailer Moebel Walther has opened an outlet, of its discount Sconto chain, in Warsaw. The store consists of 4,500 sqm of space, which reportedly makes it the largest furniture outlet in Poland. Sconto co-operates with over forty furniture manufacturers in the country.

Ahold sells hypermarkets to Carrefour

The Dutch owned Ahold has signed an agreement for an undisclosed sum to sell two of its hypermarkets: one in Sosnowiec, the other in Bydgoszcz, to Carrefour Polska. The sale is due to Ahold's strategy of restructuring its portfolio and disposing of under-performing assets and operations.

Jeans Club leases space at Wola Park

Jeans Club, the Hungarian clothes chain, has leased 457 sqm at the Wola Park retail centre in Warsaw, which will be the premises of its first shop in Poland and will open in December. Jones Lang LaSalle represented the landlord in negotiations for the deal.

Cannes award for LPP

LPP, the Gdańsk owner of the clothing brand Reserved, won an Official MAPIC Award 2003 in the 'Clothing/Fashion & Accessories' category, at the retail real estate trade show in Cannes last month. LPP, which competed for the award with such companies as M&S and Aldo, has 63 shops (of which 27 have opened this year) in several countries. Their number, however, is expected to reach 120 in 2004.

Nomination for Galeria Łódzka

The International Council of Shopping Centres Europe has announced its nominees for the Shopping Centre Awards 2004 in the following four categories: small retail centres (up to 35,000 sqm), large (above 35,000 sqm), specialist centres, and developments and modernizations. All projects are required to have been launched or restructured between July 1st 2001 and June 30th 2003. Galeria Łódzka, constructed by ECE, has been nominated in the large centres' category, along with Forum Montijo in Lisbon, owned by the Portugese AM, and Xanadu in Madrid, owned by the American Mills Corp. Last year, an ICSC award was won by Galeria Dominikańska, also owned by ECE.

Biedronka takes over Rema 1000

Jeronimo Martins, operator of the Biedronka supermarket chain, has finally taken over sixteen of the 43 Norwegian Rema 1000 stores in Poland. The re-branding process is currently underway. At the moment there are 658 Biedronkas in Poland and according to Jeronimo Martins representatives, by 2009 they will have approximately 2,000 locations. Some of these will be acquired from other chains operating in Poland.

Olsztyn authority agrees to Macro

The local authority in Olsztyn is to announce that it has given the go ahead for the construction of a Macro Cash and Carry hypermarket in the town, though under certain conditions. These include that the retailer will have to construct both a new street and repair a viaduct which would lead to the store. The decision was made after considerable local opposition to the hypermarket, which led to the owner of the plot on which it is to be built, the meat processing firm Indykpol, threatening to add to the town's number of unemployed by some 600 people, should building permission for the project be refused.