
1. Kaufland willing to buy the Alma store. It asks the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection for consent
In June, the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection received an application from the Kaufland chain, which wants to buy part of the assets of Alma Market SA in bankruptcy. The property purchased by Kaufland constitutes the legal title to real estate located in Krakow, at ul. Pilotów 6. Let us remind you that in April this year Alma delicatessen in this location has been closed. About 100 people lost their jobs then.
2. In the Sejm on commercial Sundays
At the end of the month, MPs voted against the motion to reject the amendment to the Sunday Trading Act. Work on this project will therefore continue.
Let us remind you that the parliamentary bill concerns increasing the number of Sundays on which trade is allowed in establishments that are not exempt from the ban pursuant to art. 6 of the Act is permitted by enabling business activities on the first and third Sunday of each month, extending employee rights for work on Sunday (200% of remuneration for work on Sunday, another day off from work and at least 2 Sundays in a calendar month).
3. E.Leclerc closes selected stores in Poland
The E.Leclerc chain is getting rid of 4 stores that recorded financial losses. These are stores in Konin, Kędzierzyn Koźle, Poznań and Malbork.
– Closing four stores is a difficult decision due to the consequences for the affected employee teams, but it allows for efficient use of resources and ensures the future development of the brand, which will require international-level logistics tools and an efficient supermarket format. It is worth noting that the impact of these 4 locations on turnover is limited, and the actions taken towards the remaining stores will compensate for the loss of volume resulting from the closures, said Jean-Philippe Magre, president of E.Leclerc Polska.
The chain reported that 36 E.Leclerc stores in Poland achieved a turnover increase of 4.6% (like for like). This is the result of the implementation of the new brand development strategy on the Polish market, which has been implemented since last year – indicate the network's representatives.
Since 2023, E.Leclerc Polska has been conducting a thorough analysis of its stores and decided to carry out the supermarket transformation process.
4. The owner of the 4F brand reduced employment
In June, we reported that OTCF, which runs stores under the 4F logo, limited orders for new collections, increased investments and reduced employment by over 130 people.
In 2023, the company maintained its sales level above PLN 1.3 billion for the third year in a row, closing the accounting period with a value of PLN 1,379 million (a decrease of -5.3% y/y).
The company's operating result amounted to PLN 14.1 million with an operating profitability of 1.02%, which means a deterioration in efficiency compared to the previous year.
The loss recorded by the company for 2023 amounted to PLN 17,491 million.
The company said that the previous year was spent adapting to the new situation
macroeconomic, coping with a very large amount of goods after the previous year and a collection that was not entirely successful, as well as consumer unrest related to the continuation of the war in Ukraine, still high inflation, rising fuel and energy prices as well as the increased level of debt and the resulting costs interest.
5. Neonet in Sanation. Some stores were closed
Recently, a Wrocław court rejected the bankruptcy petition of NEONET in restructuring. This means that the court will not consider this application because, as indicated in the decision, "bankruptcy cannot be declared in the period from the opening of restructuring proceedings to its completion or final discontinuation."
A few months ago, the company's management announced that a total of 26 Neonet stores were planned to be closed.
Neonet continues restructuring. Therefore, the company operates unchanged in over 200 locations throughout Poland where it conducts normal commercial activities.
6. A new type of parcel lockers from InPost
InPost Group introduces a new model of the Paczkomat machine to the market. The solution allows you to install devices regardless of the availability of the electricity network, all thanks to the machines being equipped with photovoltaic panels and energy storage. The pilot is being carried out in Gdańsk and Kraków, as well as on European markets – in Great Britain, Italy and France.
The machines have photovoltaic panels on the roof and an energy storage facility that operates even at negative temperatures.
At the end of the first quarter of 2024, the InPost Group had a network of over 69,000 out-of-home points, including over 37,000 parcel locker devices.
7. Personnel changes in Carrefour, Auchan and Polomarket
Carrefour announced changes in the management of its branch in Poland. As of June 1 this year, Eric Yung took over the position of commercial and supply chain director of Carrefour Polska. At the same time, the company appointed a new position of chief operating officer (COO), held by Tomasz Waligórski.
Tomasz Waligórski has extensive experience in retail and wholesale, which he gained on both the Polish and international markets. He started his career in 1995 as a buyer in the Eurocash wholesale chain, and later in the Biedronka chain of stores, where he worked as a regional operations director, then commercial director and member of the management board. He spent over 7 years on a contract in Portugal, where he worked as director of private labels for the Jeronimo Martins Group, and previously as a senior buyer in the Pingo Doce supermarket chain. Then, after returning to Poland, he held the position of president of the management board of the Polomarket supermarket chain and again in Eurocash, where he worked as the general director of retail.
Eric Yung is a food engineer by profession. He started his career in 1996 in the Comptoirs Modernes store, and then joined the purchasing team in two regional branches. Three years later, in 1999, he joined the Carrefour Group and held several positions in the area of marketing dairy products and then purchasing various categories of fresh products and groceries. In 2012, he became director of the large household appliances market. In 2016, he joined the FMCG teams as Organization and Method Merchandise Director, and from 2018 he was the director of Maison Johanès Boubée.
There is also a real HR revolution at Auchan Polska. There is a new president, new management board and new supervisory board.
Alexandre Edmond Saussard became the president of Auchan Polska, who took over as general director in April 2023.
– Alexandre Saussard will take up the position of general director at Auchan Retail Polska on June 12, 2023. He will continue the mission of transforming the company and its business models, implementing the Auchan Retail strategy in Poland. Alexandre Saussard will replace Gérard Gallet in this position, who was nominated at Auchan for the position of Regional Leader of Luxembourg and Poland – it was announced in April 2023.
Who else makes up the board? Jan Starzyk and Stephane Bucaille.
Stéphane Bucaille was Audit Director of Auchan Retail International. He joined the Polish team in February 2023. Jan Starzyk, CFO of Auchan, has been associated with the network since February 2019.
The company's Supervisory Board consists of: Gerard Gallet, David Mulliez, Adina Nanu, Odile Molle and Maciej Witucki.
Polomarket, on the other hand, reported that on June 26, Marcin Sowa resigned from the position of president of the management board for personal reasons. Sowa has served as a member and president of the management board for the last nearly 12 years, the longest time in the company's history.
Over the next 12 months, Marcin Sowa will continue to be involved in the structures of the POLOmarket Group, where his experience, knowledge and skills will be used by the management board and the supervisory board.
The management board of POLOmarket includes: Anita Tołysz, responsible for the Administration and Compliance department, Jarosław Brudnicki, responsible for the Purchasing and Marketing department, Bartosz Pietruszka, managing the Operations department, and Piotr Szmyt, director of the Finance and Accounting department.
So far, the Supervisory Board has not decided to appoint a new president of the management board.
8. Żabka goes to the stock exchange and debuts in Romania
CVC Capital Partners plans to introduce Żabka Polska to the stock exchange in September, and the company's valuation may range from USD 7.5 to USD 8 billion – Bloomberg recently reported, citing sources.
PO in Warsaw may be worth between USD 1 billion and USD 1.5 billion.
Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase were involved in the process.
Moreover, recently in Bucharest, the chain opened five branches under the Froo brand together with local partner DRIM Daniel Distributie. Similarly to Poland, Froo stores are intended to respond mainly to the needs of young, urban customers. The branches will operate in an agency model, similar to franchising in Poland.
– In Poland, we open three stores a day. It is also possible in Romania. We enter this market with this assumption. It won't happen right away, but this is our long-term plan. In principle, we would like to maintain the high pace of development that we have achieved in Poland, also on the Romanian market, by opening stores in the capital and other cities. For our future and constantly growing needs, we have rented a large warehouse near Bucharest, which is to handle a large, rapidly growing network – said Anna Grabowska, vice-president of Żabka Group at the meeting announcing the construction of the Froo chain in Romania.
10. Changes in the deposit system
The Ministry of Climate announced that the exclusion of dairy product packaging from the deposit system and the inclusion of small shops in it include, among others, changes in the draft amendment to the Act on the deposit system.
During the meeting of the Parliamentary Committee for Environmental Protection, Natural Resources and Forestry, Deputy Minister of Climate and Environment Anita Sowińska presented the most important changes to be introduced by the amendment to the Act on the deposit system. These are: exclusion of dairy product packaging from the deposit system, inclusion of small shops that sell drinks in returnable packaging into the system, and introduction of the so-called following the deposit with the product, i.e. collecting it each time the product is sold. This is – as the deputy minister pointed out – to prevent possible abuses when settling the collected deposit.
Anita Sowińska also said that work is underway, among others: on the possibility of requesting producers for documents confirming recycling. She added that this will involve an increase in the product fee for companies that do not decide to enter the system. She said that it will be three times the product fee and it is to be charged from 2026.