Mercadona plans to open four more supermarkets in Portugal between now and the end of December, taking its store total in the country to 20.
Despite the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, Mercadona said that it plans to continue with the implementation of its strategy for the Portuguese market, reports Spanish daily El Confidencial.
Since its arrival in Portugal in 2019, Mercadona has set itself the goal of opening 10 new stores per year, with the aim of reaching 150 outlets. However, the lockdown period temporarily blocked the company's expansion plans.
Delayed Opening
Due to the pandemic, the Valencia-based company was forced to push back the opening of its store in Aveiro from March to June. The same month, it opened another outlet in Porto (Santo Tirso), followed by two more in July in Aveiro and Porto (Penafiel).
In August and September, Mercadona opened one new outlet each month, in Porto (Ermesinde and Trofa).
The retailer will invest between €130 million and €140 million in the four new stores to open between now and the end of the year.
To date, Mercadona has been concentrating its activities in Northern Portugal (Braga, Porto, Aveiro, Viana do Castelo), while its arrival in Lisbon is not expected before 2022 or 2023.
Last year, the retailer reported a turnover of €32 million in Portugal, out of a total of €25.5 billion. Mercadona is the market leader in Spain, according to Kantar data, with a 24.8% market share.
© 2020 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
