Getir to leave Western Europe

Rumours of Getir’s departure from these countries have been circulating for more than a week, but Sky News now reports the plans have become concrete and an official announcement would follow later this week. The company wants to leave Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom – after pulling out of Italy, Portugal and Spain last year.

This is despite the Turkish company’s recent talks to acquire German market leader Flink, which eventually fell through. Earlier, Getir had also acquired Gorillas. It is not clear whether the quick commerce player wants to stay active in the United States: Getir bought New York e-commerce player FreshDirect from Ahold Delhaize only recently, but now that company is said to be for sale again.

In any case, the withdrawal comes with significant job losses: 1,500 jobs would be affected in the UK alone, and it is not clear how many jobs are threatened in the Netherlands and Germany. Flash delivery companies have experienced a steep rise during the Covid pandemic, but soon ran into trouble when buying behaviour returned to normal.

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