Netherlands: Stores, Action discount ready to double in Italy
- DRC Discount Retail Consulting GmbH
- Jun 11
- 3 min read
Discount Variety Retail Chain Action opens its 3,000th store in Europe in Italy on Thursday 5 April. The discount non-food brand debuted in the Peninsula in April 2021 and with this latest inauguration, in San Rocco al Porto in the province of Lodi, it reaches 157 Italian stores. However, looking to the near future, the intention is "to double in a couple of years", Hajir Hajji, CEO of the Dutch group present in 13 European countries, anticipates to ItaliaOggi. "France is our main market, where we landed in 2012, but Italy is among the companies at the top in terms of growth and store openings. We have strong potential ahead of us along the Peninsula." The new Lombard store covers over 867 square meters, in line with the average square footage of Action stores, and relies on a team of 22 employees.
The strategy of the CEO who started as a sales assistant
"This is how our international expansion strategy continues. Two months ago we opened our first store in Switzerland and, in parallel, we are preparing to open the first store in Romania, expected in the autumn of this year," adds Hajji who started working at Action in 1997, starting as a sales assistant and then becoming head of in-store operations, commercial director and, Since 2022, global CEO of the company with net sales of 13.8 billion euros (+21.7%) at the end of 2024.
Action relies on a single format and does not want to change
Hajji confirms on the one hand the three golden rules: low prices, good quality of the offer and attention to sustainability, concepts concretely declined in 6 thousand products available in store, in turn divided into 14 product categories (from toys and creative items to household products, from gardening to DIY and food). All, moreover, within a single sales format. On the other hand, however, the manager relaunches, "this single format will remain our only reference format because it is very distinctive and allows us to be recognized as a discounter. We are not interested in proximity positioning nor, generally, in landing in the main city streets. Smaller sales areas, after all, are not for us. Not to mention that, where we open, a greater flow of people is often generated by up to +30%".
The importance of a dynamic shelf
Hence the importance of adequate space to display the assortment and to follow its rotation, thinking of 150 new products placed on the shelf every week. «In some respects we behave like food brands and in Action's historical roots there is exactly an experience in the food field with the past management of a supermarket. As a result, operational speed and management of the entire supply chain, speed in purchasing items, but also speed in bringing items into the store stand out in their current importance for us. Applying these criteria to non-food makes a difference," Hajji points out, who is keen to reiterate: "we are not a traditional brand, we are not a drug store, but a discount store that competes with different competitors depending on the different product categories offered. We always monitor the trend of the average prices applied on the market, to stay below this threshold". To confirm, in the past, Philippe Levisse, general manager of Action Italy, had recalled how "30% of our products cost less than one euro and another 30% are on sale at a price between 1 and 2 euros. Which means that 60% of our items cost less than 2 euros."
US tariffs are not good, however...
US tariffs, is Hajji worried about the repercussions? "Tariffs are not good for anyone. That said, European retailers will not be directly impacted; so no, I'm not worried. But with China we can reason to work and coordinate at the level of supplies, even regardless of the new trade policy of the United States," concludes the CEO of Action.
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