Briefs

Wal-Mart to buy Rema 1000?

It is quite possible that the owner of the Norwegian supermarket chain Rema 1000 is negotiating with the US giant Wal-Mart, with the intention of selling its shops in Poland, according to 'Puls Biznesu'. The retailer has been looking for a buyer for its stores for about six months and Wal-Mart should fit the bill because Poland, with its market potential, would seem ideal for what is the world's biggest retail company.
The newspaper considers that the UK developer Gazeley Properties' potential acquisition of a fifty hectare logistics-warehouse site, in Sochczew near Warsaw, could signal the American's interest in the Polish market, as the former is a strategic partner of Wal-Mart's.

Musketeers to open one hundredth shop in Poland

A consortium of French retailers, ITM, which calls itself the Musketeers, opened its one hundredth shop in the north of Poland, in Lebork on June 3rd. The shop will be part of the Bricomarche do-it-yourself chain and it will be the first of another fifty such, (along with the Intermarche supermarket), to open in Poland. The Musketeers currently run 7,700 shops across Europe and have been doing business in Poland since 1997. They are also planning to invest EUR 27.6 mln in a logistics centre in Czestochowa in southern Poland later this year.

Ahold Polska leases shopping area

Ahold Polska, the retail enterprise which manages the investments of Dutch company Royal Ahold, has leased retail premises of 1,400 sqm, to be taken up predominantly by an Albert store, in Warsaw.
It will also consist of a shopping gallery with a number of smaller retail and service units and the exclusive agent and advisor for it is Colliers International. It will be the agents' Retail Department's first venture.

Portuguese firm to expand dramatically

Portuguese retailer Jeronimo Martins is to expand its presence in Poland by 1,400 new shops under the name Biedronka. PLN 100-150 mln will be invested on an annual basis and will continue up until the end of 2010. The money could well be raised by the firm entering the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
There are already 628 Biedronka shops in Poland, making Jeronimo Martins a leader on the discount retail market and the brand could develop so that it represents 40-45 per cent of Jeronimo's total sales, from its current level of 36 per cent. Biedronka's turnover increased 21 per cent to EUR 924.7 mln in 2002. The company has to date invested EUR 500 mln here. It also runs the company Eurocash, the cash and carry operator.