Supermarkets eye the Balkans
When Nikos Veropoulos sold his supermarket chain in Greece to Metro AEBE in 2016, he held onto the outlets under the Vero brand in the Balkans. It was a wise move that is being followed today by more Greek chains seeking to expand into neighboring markets with greater growth potential and a younger clientele.
Compared with expansion into Cyprus, the Balkan undertaking may prove difficult at first, given the penetration of major chains from Central Europe, such as Aldi and Lidl, but it would greatly benefit Greek producers by giving them a fresh channel for selling their goods.
Sklavenitis and Retail & More are already making such plans, eyeing not only the markets of North Macedonia, Serbia and Bulgaria, but also those of Central Europe, while increasing their presence in Cyprus – a project Metro intends to pursue too.
They are driven by Vero’s success in North Macedonia and Serbia, where the Greek chain has a total of 22 stores and keeps expanding with the addition of another Vero Market, covering 5,000 square meters and including a Jumbo store, at Strumica.
Parent company Vero Holdings, which also operates Jumbo in Serbia and North Macedonia, saw turnover of 127.54 million euros in 2022 and pretax profits of almost €13 million.
