The grocery supermarket chain ‘Food Market’ of the Epicenter group currently has 26 retail outlets. According to the company’s top manager Oleg Shkarovsky, some stores were lost due to destruction from hostilities, but the company plans to restore them and expand.
This is reported by Business • Media
Plans for Development and Opening New Stores
In 2024, ‘Epicenter’ has already opened four new ‘Food Market’ locations: three in the Kyiv region and one in Chernihiv. Additionally, this year, the opening of five new stores in various regions of Ukraine is planned. However, the number of openings may increase depending on the security and economic situation in the country, noted Oleg Shkarovsky.
Store Formats and Development Strategy
The company is actively experimenting with store formats. In particular, they have small retail outlets with a basic assortment, but the most successful are full-fledged gastro-markets with a wide selection of products. “Their optimal area is 2,800–3,200 square meters,” emphasized the top manager.
At the same time, ‘Epicenter’ is developing the ‘Epicenter Express’ store network, where up to 50% of the assortment consists of food products, and this category has high growth potential. Meanwhile, the company currently does not plan to expand the ‘Food Market’ project beyond its own shopping centers, focusing on internal development and optimizing the existing network.
“We are constantly experimenting. Today we have small stores with a basic set of products, but the greatest success is seen with gastro-markets that offer a wide assortment,” said Oleg Shkarovsky.