French retail group Auchan has plans to invest €90 million in Portugal over the next two years, focusing on store refurbishments as well as new openings.
According to Pedro Cid, director general of Auchan Portugal, the retailer intends to spend 40% of this investment on new stores, while the rest has been earmarked for refurbishing and rebranding existing stores.
Speaking to Expresso, Cid said that in 2017 the company spent €2.7 million on the remodelling of its store in Matosinhos, and over €1 million for its Olhão store.
The next hypermarkets to be refurbished are those in Faro, Figueira da Foz and Alfragide, to be followed by Cascais in 2019.
The Auchan group operates Jumbo hypermarkets, Pão de Açúcar supermarkets and MyAuchan neighbourhood stores in Portugal.
Sustainable Growth
Cid added that Auchan Portugal is "more interested in sustainable growth than organic growth", with investment concentrated in areas where the retailer is already present.
“We started with hypermarkets, then we launched the online store and supermarkets, and we are now are rolling out neighbourhood stores,” he said.
According to Cid, Auchan is increasingly improving its online grocery services, and now offers between 45,000 and 48,000 food and non-food products on its website. It is also testing a one-hour delivery service at its Évora store.
In September, it was reported that Auchan could be rebranding its Jumbo hypermarkets in Portugal this year, as part of the group's plans to make its retail banners more homogenous.
Cid said that a decision on creating a single store brand in the country will be finalised at some point in 2018.
[Picture by Daniel Resende/Flickr.]
© 2018 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
