The new Russian discount chain MERE has announced in a letter that they will soon start operations in Hungary. In three years, they want to open 200 stores and achieve a turnover of EUR 700 million in the country.
The Russian retail chain MERE (known in Russia as Svetofor) was founded in 2009 and has since been present in at least 20 countries, including several European countries like Romania and Serbia, among others, Index reports.
New Russian discount chain
Haszon.hu reported that they recently received an e-mail dated February in which the representatives of the chain wrote:
“We are pleased to announce that the European MERE supermarket network will now also be available in Hungary.”
According to haszon.hu, the letter was sent to potential business partners and outlined that 20 stores would be opened in Budapest and the agglomeration “in the coming year”. In the next three years, they plan to open 200 stores in the country, with an annual turnover of EUR 700 million.
MERE’s offers
The portal wrote that MERE, like Aldi or Lidl, is a so-called hard discount chain. This means that it offers its products at extremely reduced prices. As they wrote, their shops are “rather spartan”, because they offer their products to customers in boxes and on pallets.
In their email, they promise to offer prices 20% lower than the market average thanks to direct cooperation with manufacturers, strict cost control and minimal trade mark-ups.
MERE’s products
As they wrote, they are mainly expecting customers who are family people with average to below-average incomes, who plan their purchases and visit the store 1-2 times a week. The range of products available in the store will consist of around 1,500 items: food, beverages, industrial goods and household chemicals, including private-label products.
As haszon.hu mentions, the Russian discount chain has been trying to expand for years. However, their attempts were halted by the war. In 2022, for example, they planned to open their first stores in Slovakia, but the invasion put paid to that plan.
Read also:
- Easter long weekend: shops that remain open in Hungary and where to find them
- Hungarian billionaire buys foreign retail chain in Hungary
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I don’t understand why this is “surprising news”. Hungary is a Russian client state.
Okay, why not!
Hungarians – agree with or disagree ?
or retain the disgraceful PASSIVE position we/you DO, and just let the Orban/Fidesz “mob” sell us off.
“A Law unto there Own” – who is to STOP this current Prime Minister and his Government ?
When Lidl or Billa or Spar go to another country, they keep their brand name. When a chain managed by former USSR KGB agents with current ”Russian” passports goes to another country, it fools the locals, by mimicking the Western brands. Most of the customers, seeing this name, will think that it is just another German brand.
Oh my!
And I thought the English were the vanguards of free trade….
I’m just joking. We all know, that the USA, EU, and England are imperialist projects, who want to enforce their colonial empire on the world. Their slogans of “freedom”, “free trade” and “democracy” are just as contradictory as the USSR having a constitution.
The West has no right to make, enforce, or demand the enforcement of sanctions. It is against international law. Only the UN General Assembly or the UN Security Council is allowed to do so. So the West is angry at Hungary for not violating international law. “The evil Hungarians are following international law! When I gave them my orders to break them?! How abhorrent!” – That’s the Western elite’s’ reaction.
Hungary is following free market principles, that the West preaches, and that makes them Russia’s satellites?
Lol. The West needs to realize, that Hungary and Hungarians do LOVE freedom. And that means they reject the West’s unilateral demands, which would result in Hungary going bankrupt, broken or abolished.