Hyper markets less popular north of us

The expansion of big retail chains is continuing in Eastern Europe. According to the latest survey by PWC, global players like Tesco and Auchan have taken over leading positions, but failed to strangle traditional, neighbourhood stores. As it was expected, big retail chains continued their expansion in Poland last year, with the number of their stores increasing by 22 per cent, but traditional, neighbourhood stores still hold a market share of over 50 per cent. Poles seem to be loyal to traditional stores and the big chains have not yet reached towns with a population of less than 50,000. There does not seem to be much demand for very large stores, which means average floor space will be far below the size usual in Hungary. Licensing of hyper markets is not simple, which means Tesco focuses on the below 1000 square meter stores now. All global retail chains are present in Poland, but they are looking for smaller places, suitable for supermarkets. Discount store chains have expanded by 25 per cent, since Polish consumers are very sensitive to prices. Lidl is the most rapidly expanding with 120 stores opened in a single year, while Biedronka is the biggest with 800 stores. There are however, still 115,000 neighbourhood groceries. In the Czech Republic, Schwarz (Kaufland and Lidl) has been growing at the fastest rate since the appearance of Lidl in 2004. Marko is in second place, with Tesco, and Ahold (Hypernova and Albert) close behind. Though expansion is still rapid, statistics indicate that the age of limitless expansion is over. The market seems to be saturated, while the market share of the five biggest chains remains low compared to Western Europe, even though a series of mergers has taken place.