Poland: discounter Biedronka more beautiful than supermarket Dino?
- DRC Discount Retail Consulting GmbH
- 24 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Discount Retail Chain Biedronka and Dino open stores in Warsaw's Wilanów district. Warsaw's Wilanów, and especially its part known as Zawady, is becoming a new symbolic battlefield for two large players in the Polish retail market. At Syta Street, two supermarkets of two competing chains: Biedronka and Dino are being launched in a short time. This location, considered prestigious and dynamically developing, is becoming an arena of fierce competition for customers.
Wilanów residents will be able to shop in the new version of the Biedronka store at 100 Syta Street. The facility has undergone a thorough modernization, gaining a modern 4.0 format and a spacious sales room with an area of 1,000 sq. m.
There will be 9 self-service checkouts and 4 traditional checkouts, a bread slicer, a traditional counter with cold cuts, fish and cheese, as well as electronic price labels. The facility will be partially powered by green energy thanks to a photovoltaic installation. Motorized customers will use a car park with 100 spaces and an electric vehicle charging station.
The Biedronka store employs 38 employees in this place, and the investment is to strengthen the chain's position as a "good neighbour" for the residents of Wilanów.
Dino debuts in Warsaw
A few hundred meters away, at 140 Syta Street, the construction of the first Dino store in Warsaw is underway. The completion of the works is planned for December 2025, which means that the store will not be open until 2026 at the earliest. The location was not chosen by accident, it is one of the fastest growing areas of the capital.
Dino, despite the fact that it already has almost 3,000 stores in Poland, has so far avoided Warsaw. In Wilanów, however, it played va banque – competing directly with Biedronka, Lidl and Carrefour Market, which operate nearby, at the Syta/Vogla roundabout.
The operator from Krotszyn is already preparing to open a store in another location in the capital. Dino in Warsaw will also be launched at 1 Kijowska Street (Praga-Północ). It will operate there in the immediate vicinity of Biedronka. The store will be located in the Centrum Millennium office and commercial complex.
Residents' protests against Dino
In contrast to the peaceful opening of Biedronka, the construction of the Dino store in Zawady was opposed by some residents. Already in 2023, a petition was published with an appeal to refuse to issue a building permit.
"We do not agree to Zawady becoming a concrete bay of supermarkets" - the petition reads. "The supermarket in this area will significantly increase traffic on Syta Street, it will disturb the peace around kindergartens and housing estates" - it was added.
Despite protests, the permit was issued, and construction started in April 2025.
Dino is slowly entering big cities – with a plan and caution
The opening of the Dino store in Zawady and the planned facility in Warsaw's Praga district (1 Kijowska Street) are a symbolic breakthrough in the company's strategy. Dino, so far focused on smaller towns, is testing the market of large agglomerations. According to analysts, this is part of a long-term development strategy.
"Dino continues to avoid mass entry into large cities," says Agnieszka Skonieczna, chief retail market analyst at PMR Market Experts/Hume's Institute. "The foundation of the chain's activity remains villages and small and medium-sized cities.
According to PMR data, at the beginning of 2025, only 1.4 percent of Dino stores were located in cities with more than 200,000 inhabitants.
The expert points out, however, that Dino is expanding point-by-point. "Even stores formally opened within the boundaries of large cities are often located on the outskirts, where it is easier to meet key requirements: availability of plots, parking spaces, lower operating costs," explains Skonieczna.
The PMR analyst emphasizes that Dino can strategically benefit from its presence in large cities:
The use of attractive plots that have not been developed by the competition.
Building brand recognition among customers and employees.
Densification of logistics infrastructure.
Blocking the development of competition in key districts.
Is Wilanów not the beginning for Dino, but a continuation of urban expansion?
Although the store at 140 Syta Street will not open before 2026, Dino is already recruiting – advertisements appeared, in the capital's employment office. This is a clear signal that the Polish chain does not intend to give up on Warsaw. Another Dino outlet, in Praga, will operate right next to Biedronka, which only heats up the atmosphere of commercial competition.
The operator from Krotoszyn already has several dozen branches in the largest cities of the country, from Gdańsk, through Łódź and Poznań to Wrocław. This is not the end, it can be expected that Dino will systematically circle the largest agglomerations, opening stores in interesting, but at the same time relatively "cheap" locations, which will allow for a relatively quick return on investment. It is worth emphasizing, however, that the fight for Wilanów is more than just two more stores. This is a symbolic moment in the rivalry between Dino and Biedronka. A few years ago, Biedronka decided to enter Dino's premises with a smaller format of stores, and now Dino is entering the kingdom of Biedronka, Lidl and Żabka.
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