Withdrawal of the Russian supermarket chain: is the “Russian Aldi” soon to be out in Germany too?
Created: 04/10/2022, 09:09
By: Magdalena von Zumbusch
The Russian discounter Mere has been in Germany since 2019 (symbol image).
© Jan Woitas/dpa
The "Russian" stamp is now causing considerable damage to companies.
A Russian supermarket chain appears to be on the brink of collapse in England and Spain.
What's next in Germany?
Berlin - The Russian supermarket chain Mere, represented in Germany by the subsidiary
Ts-Markt GmbH
, seems to be on the retreat in Europe.
In Spain, the business is about to end, and a withdrawal from other European countries is also being considered.
Mere belongs to the Torgservis group of companies from Krasnoyarsk in Siberia and mainly sells groceries, household goods and drugstore items.
When the Russian cheap discounter "Mere" opened its first branch in Leipzig in 2019, there was great excitement.
He wanted to challenge Germany of all places as the inventor of discounts on his home market and undercut the price by 20 to 30 percent, according to
Business Insider
, who observed the company's bold strategy.
The retailer in this country was christened “Russian-Aldi” for its concept of simple furnishings and low prices.
"Like Aldi in the 1960s," according to Business Insider
, it looks like
in the branches.
The company wanted to open 100 stores in Germany.
Video: When Mere opened its first store in Leipzig, the future looked bright
Discounter Mere has been in trouble since the Ukraine war
But the expansion was probably not going as planned even before the war.
Instead of the planned 100 stores, only six branches have been opened in Germany so far.
As a result of the war in Ukraine, the company has already announced its withdrawal from Great Britain.
People seem to have had such a negative attitude towards Russian companies since the war that business has suffered tremendously.
In the case of Great Britain so much that the company has to withdraw from the country.
According to
Business Insider
, business in Spain is also about to end.
So far, Mere has only cautiously commented on how it intends to continue operating in Germany.
According to
Business Insider
, a statement said : "We are not making any hasty predictions and are continuing to monitor the situation."
In view of the “unpredictable” development, however, the future is uncertain.
In view of the current mood towards Russia, it seems not unlikely that the supermarket will not have a long future in Germany either.
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