Store check: Russian ultra-discount brand Mere in Situ (Spain). Here is Olivier Dauvers visit in photos. 1 / The first Spanish Mere is… in an old Aldi As a nod to commercial history, the first store Mere opened in Spain was in an old Aldi store building (which can be recognized quite quickly by the architecture). About 800 m2, on a roundabout a few kilometers from the airport (for the curious who will make the trip, if you land by sea, you will see it!). 2 / Like a step back in time ... The first impression is startling. Especially for those who knew the first German hard-discounters in France in 1989/90, which is my case. By the way, just like that, a photo of Mere today followed by a photo of Lidl decades ago! Striking. 3 / Wall racks, central pallets The assets are summary. Very sketchy. On the wall (right and left), Mere has installed racks, warehouse style. In the center, no material. Just pallets on the ground which are used as support for supplier boxes. 4 / A staircase presentation Most products are handled by cardboard (and not by pallet, contrary to what is often written on Mere). For the visual effect, Mere opts for a staircase presentation and with products that are presented out of the box. Result: throughout my visit, I saw employees handling unitary products (and not just boxes, which obviously penalizes productivity). 5 / Fresh in a cold room-style area No fresh furniture at Mere. At the back of the store, fresh products (<50 items) are presented in a cold room of approximately 75 m2. There are also a few pallets of drinks (fruit juice, sodas, beers). 6 / Fruits and vegetables Do not look for a fruit and vegetable section, you would be disappointed ;-) Here, two references: an onion pallet and a potato pallet inside the cold room. For the rest, you will have to go to Mercadona 5 minutes away! 7 / The matches? On pallet! No fruit and vegetables (or almost) but the matches are presented on a pallet on the ground. I might have missed it before, but I don't remember ever seeing it. 8 / Non-food: 15 items Fairly early in the customer journey: non-food covers 15 SKUs. The offer goes in all directions (toaster, flashlight and power strip), reflecting Mere's strategy: opportunism. Ultimately, no different from other discounters. 9 / “Big” international brands: on the fingers of one hand Three major brands available: President (cheese), Barilla (pasta) and Coca-Cola. 10 / Large import from "the East": a few rare products Mere is preceded by a reputation as a seller of Russian products with questionable specifications. As much to say: it does not jump to the eyes. Yes, there are quite a few “Eastern” products like this Ukrainian sauce, but objectively there are very few of them. Not enough to generalize as we can read. In any case here in Spain (you can imagine that my tour of Europe for Mere did not stop at the Iberians border...). 11 / The most ambitious initiative ... Before going through the checkout, here is the most ambitious initiative in the shopping experience: a salmon aperitif snack with a palette of beer. Or when Mere reasons her merchandising by use ... Cross-merchandising at the cantor of ultra-discount! 12/ 3 cashiers Unadorned checkouts. No way to end on a gentler note! See here for more: https://www.olivierdauvers.fr/2021/06/21/mere-ultra-discount-ma-visite-a-valence-en-12-etapes/

The Russian discount store chain Svetofor, known in Europe under the MERE brand, will launch its operations in the Serbian market in under a month by opening three stores. The first three stores, in Batajnica, Krusevac and Subotica, are already getting ready to open to shoppers in mid-January, followed by Kraljevo and Vrsac in February. A total of 15 stores will have been opened in Serbia by late April or early May. Serbia Commerce Minister Tatjana Matic said that the line ministry had received confirmation from the Trade Representation of the Russian Federation about the opening of these stores. Mladen Alfirovic of the National Organization of Consumers of Serbia, points out that their organization strongly supports the arrival of competition in the retail sector. He adds that that’s good news for the shoppers because it ensures better shopping conditions in the sense of the better quality of goods and more affordable prices. As announced in mid-August this Russian company’s subsidiary in Belgrade, MERE plans to open at least 100 stores, spanning 1,000 square metres each on average, in Serbia. MERE said that their prices would be at least 20% lower than the competition’s and that they planned to work directly with the producers, with strong quality control and a low trade margin. When MERE entered the German market in January 2019, the demand was so strong that they sold out all their stock within the first week, forcing them to temporarily close the store in Leipzig. See here more about the MERE concept: https://www.discountretailconsulting.com/post/poland-russian-hard-discounter-mere-started-in-cz%C4%99stochowa Mother Discount Retail Chain Svetofor is active in Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and China, and opened stores in Romania, Germany, Lituania and now Poland under the brand MERE. Svetofor controls over 1,500 stores in Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and China, opened its first discount stores in Germany and Romania in 2018 and 2019 and Lituania in 2020. The Svetofor chain of stores is managed by Torgservis. The owners are the Schneider family (92.5%), Valery Yakovlev (4.5%), Andrey Veykulainen (3%). Torgservistook the ninth place in the ranking of Russian FMCG retailers, compiled by InfoLine at the end of 2019, with around 500 stores opened in 2019 alone. This makes the company one of the fastest growing supermarket chains in the country, right after the market leaders X5 Retail Group and Magnit. Both X5 and Magnit also recently opened a discount store format in Russia. Torgservis revenue in 2019 amounted to a little more than $1.4B (26% more than in 2018). See here for more: https://www.serbianmonitor.com/en/russian-discount-retail-chain-mere-to-open-three-stores-in-serbia-in-a-month/

Russian discount retail chain MERE (owned by Svetofor) starts in Greece during the month, as informed sources report in Capital.gr. The first three stores will open until mid-February in Larissa, Tripoli and Lagada and two stores more will follow in the near future. The plan, which is characterized as ambitious by market executives, envisages the creation of 80 stores in Greece by the end of the year. The stores, which will look more like a warehouse, the products will be in pallets / boxes and has initially 250 SKUs, with a 1 tier stategy. Variety limited in relation to the SKUs offered today by a supermarket in Greece. For example, a mini market has 400-500 SKUs, about 1,500-1,800 SKUs are served by a medium-sized supermarket and over 3,500 SKUs by a large one. The Russian chain hopes to overcome the disadvantage of the variety by "playing" the price marketing tool. Payment for the products that are delivered by the suppliers, is largely unknown. Who and how many have signed an agreement with MERE. Payments will be made weekly in a bank account depending on the total sales, for cashflow reasons. Meaning that if a supplier has delivered a pallet of products and 5 boxes are sold then it will be paid within the week for the boxes sold. In case the products are not sold they will be returned to the supplier and the shipping costs will be borne by the latter. The chain requires suppliers to ensure the delivery of products to all retail stores in at least one area, while in the case of shipping products with a shelf life of less than one year, the expiration date of products should not exceed 2 / 3 of their estimated lifespan determined by the producer. The minimum quantity of products purchased from suppliers is one pallet, and the pallets used for deliveries are non-refundable and their cost is included in the price of the goods. The chain will not initially sell fresh fruit and vegetables or fresh meat and fish. See here for more: https://www.capital.gr/epixeiriseis/3523368/mere-rosiki-apobasi-sto-elliniko-lianemporio

Discount Retail Chain MERE's mother Discount Retail Chain Svetofor is active in Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and China. Svetofor controls over 1,500 stores opened its first discount stores in Germany and Romania in 2018 and 2019 respectively Lituania and Poland this year under the MERE brand. Svetofor is managed by Russian Torgservis. The owners are the Schneider family (92.5%), Valery Yakovlev (4.5%), Andrey Veykulainen (3%). Torgservis took the ninth place in the ranking of Russian retailers, compiled by InfoLine at the end of 2019 , with around 500 stores opened in 2019 alone. This makes the company one of the fastest growing supermarket chains in the country, right after the market leaders X5 Retail Group and Magnit. Both X5 and Magnit also recently opened a discount store format in Russia. Torgservis revenue in 2019 amounted to a little more than $1.4B (26% more than in 2018). At MERE, the pans, brushes and brooms are in the original carton boxes stacked on top of each other, milk, orange juice and the like are presented on wooden euro pallets. Canned food can be found here on the heavy-duty shelves and pickles come in cardboard boxes instead of jars. There is almost no storage rooms, as almost all delivered products end up in the store. MERE isn't about looks, it's about lightness and savings. Accordingly, their motto is “cheap”. The concept of “daily lowest prices” is causing a stir and attracting savers to its stores. The discounter is often referred to as the Aldi clone of the “Seventies” because of its simple store concept it reminds many people on the early days German Aldi stores. But what some may find simple and tasteless works well for the discounter. When the first German store was opened in Leipzig-Portitz on January 29, 2019, it attracted a lot of attention. The consequence of the cheap prices was an unexpectedly disproportionate run of customers on the store. Due to out-of-stocks, MERE had to close its doors for a short time. As a result, customers felt set-back to the DDR times, when essential food was frequently sold out in supermarkets. No end for MERE? In Germany there are only a few MERE stores so far. These are in Leipzig-Portlitz, Homburg (in Saarland), Zwickau and Halle-Neustadt. Further planned store openings in Dresden and Chemnitz had to be canceled for the time being due to the Corona crisis. In general, however, MERE's expansion plans are very ambitious. At the beginning of 2019, they announced that they would open up to 100 stores in Germany. Further stores are planned in the greater Berlin and Frankfurt areas. Furthermore, MERE will open a new store in Wilhelmshaven on October 1st. Good selected locations should score points The German MERE holding company TS Markt GmbH only selects special locations for its MERE stores. In doing so, they not only look for cities with good locations, it is also primarily investigated whether cheap rents are feasible. For this reason, vacant, abandoned rental space is mainly rented. Every beginning is difficult ... Retail experts saw the market launch of MERE 2019 as a “trial run”, insiders expected the discounter to have little chance. The planned 100 stores by the end of 2021 were also only described as “manageable” by experts. Because there is a lot of pressure in German food retailing that new retailers with few stores can hardly withstand. The extremely cheap concept of MERE was also assessed by the German trade association as having little success chance. One must expect high transportation, rental and personnel costs. Especially in the Munich and Stuttgart regions, you have to calculate rental costs of up to € 19 per square meter per month. These costs then have to be borne by the shoppers. At MERE, the price counts But despite all doubts, the new Russian MERE discount stores in Germany were able to assert themselves quite well at the few opened locations. The concept works and some shoppers have no problem with the missing of shelves. Because it is about the price. We are excited to see how this discounter will develop and realize in Germany and abroad. The chances for a successful German roll-out are certainly there given the extreme shoopers' price sensitivity in Aldi and Lidl's home country. Click here for more: https://www.supermarkt-inside.de/mere-bleibt-weiter-dran-neue-standorte-kommen/

Discount Retail Chain MERE (part of Svetofor and owned by Torgservis ) opened on July 25th its first store in Poland. The hard discount store format was opened at 1 Maja Street in Częstochowa. The MERE hard discount format is essentially a warehouse store totally not in line with the store format of today's modern supermarket landscape. No convenient shelving, decent shopping arcades, all kinds of self-service cash desks and numerous staff. Everything is sold from pallets and/ or in boxes straight from the shelves, perishable products are in huge refrigerators. Mother Discount Retail Chain Svetofor is active in Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and China, and opened stores in Romania, Germany, Lituania and now Poland under the brand MERE. Svetofor controls over 1,500 stores in Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and China, opened its first discount stores in Germany and Romania in 2018 and 2019 and Lituania last month. The Svetofor chain of stores is managed by Torgservis. The owners are the Schneider family (92.5%), Valery Yakovlev (4.5%), Andrey Veykulainen (3%). Torgservis took the ninth place in the ranking of Russian FMCG retailers, compiled by InfoLine at the end of 2019 , with around 500 stores opened in 2019 alone. This makes the company one of the fastest growing supermarket chains in the country, right after the market leaders X5 Retail Group and Magnit. Both X5 and Magnit also recently opened a discount store format in Russia. Torgservis revenue in 2019 amounted to a little more than $1.4B (26% more than in 2018). According to the Lithuanian business newspaper Verslo zinios, after the Baltic states, MERE also intends to enter the markets of France, Spain, Italy, Greece, the Czech Republic and other EU countries. The main strategy of MERE is to keep prices 20% lower everywhere than its closest competitors. Offering low prices because MERE works directly with manufacturers, has a strict cost policy and applies minimum margins. In its stores, the customer pays only for the goods, not for the brand and bright packaging. In the case of the MERE stores, it is a 'hard discounter'. Will the Polish consumer accept this 'hard discount' format? The experience to date in the Polish market shows rather that consumers, unlike, for example, the German consumers, prefers the 'soft' discount format, with a slightly wider range and occasional premium category products. The pandemic, however, could help the MERE chain grow. Consumers are starting to look at their spending, and the slogan of the MERE concept is low prices. Click here for more: https://www.dlahandlu.pl/galeria/89809/29152.html

Discount Retail Chain MERE (part of Svetofor and owned by Torgservis ) has opened its first store in the Baltics Kaunas, the second largest city in Lithuania . Over the remaining six months, the chain plans to open a total of 40 stores in Lithuania. Svetofor controls over 1,500 stores in Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and China, opened its first discount stores in Germany and Romania in 2018 and 2019. The Svetofor chain of stores is managed by Torgservis. The owners are the Schneider family (92.5%), Valery Yakovlev (4.5%), Andrey Veykulainen (3%). Torgservis took the ninth place in the ranking of Russian FMCG retailers compiled by InfoLine at the end of 2019. Torgservis revenue in 2019 amounted to a little more than $1.4B (26% more than in 2018). In 2019, the company opened more than 500 new stores. The MERE discount format is essentially a warehouse store totally not in line with the format of today's modern supermarket landscape. No convenient shelving, decent shopping arcades, all kinds of self-service cash desks and numerous staff. Products are in boxes on pallets, perishable products are in huge refrigerators. And no advertising, noisy announcements in the media and fireworks during the opening. The company completely abandoned marketing expenses and any other expenses for the sole purpose of keeping prices 20% lower than those of its competitors. Market In Lithuania, the retail market is quite dense. The five main players are Maxima (Lithuanian chain, 248 stores), Iki (owned by the German Rewe group, 228 stores), Norfa (Lithuanian chain, 143 stores), Rimi (Norwegian chain, 60 stores), Lidl (German chain, 49 stores). The last of the largest players entering in Lithuania was the German Lidl in 2016, before that, Maxima, Iki, Norfa and Rimi occupied 80% of the entire country's market. Lidl's arrival mixed all the cards. Due to low prices, the chain quickly lured buyers. By 2018, Lidl caught up with Rimi in terms of turnover. Judging by the first store, the Russian MERE has even lower prices than Lidl, but so far the assortment range is not rich. According to the Lithuanian business newspaper Verslo zinios, after the Baltic states, MERE intends to enter the markets of France, Spain, Italy, Greece, the Czech Republic and other EU countries. The main strategy of MERE is to keep prices 20% lower everywhere than its closest competitors. Offering low prices because MERE works directly with manufacturers, has a strict cost policy and applies minimum margins. In its stores, the customer pays only for the goods, not for the brand and bright packaging. Prices at MERE are indeed shockingly low for the Lithuanian market. For example, a bedding set (100% cotton) costs $15.69, a towel (0.7x1.5 m) - $2.04 euros, sparkling water (1.5 l) - $0.20 euros, pieces of mackerel fillet in oil (200 g) - $1.74 euros, herring fillet in mayonnaise (280 g) - $1.07. All products are mainly Russian-made. In the first days after the opening of MERE, both in the premises and in the parking lot, there are big lines. Click on image for more:

Discount Retail Chain MERE (owned by the Russian Schneider family), the bare-bones Russian food chain that calls itself the fastest-growing discounter in Europe and cheaper to shop than Aldi or Lidl, is exploring expansion to the U.S., WGB has learned. A recent job posting by the company seeks a U.S.-based project manager with responsibility for exploring store sites, negotiating leases and opening stores in Georgia and Alabama. Mere is owned by Russia’s Svetofor Group. Svetofor (which translates to “Traffic Light” in Russian) was founded in 2009 and today operates more than 2,500 stores in Russia, Belarus and Central Asia, and is among Russia’s 10 largest grocers. Over the past five years, Svetofor has expanded Mere throughout Europe, with small numbers of stores now operating in Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Serbia, Ukraine, Romania, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom, where its first store is expected to open later this week. Stores in Belgium and Austria are also on the way, according to one of the company’s various websites. Observers describe Mere as a “bare-knuckles, ultra-discounter” whose stores in Europe feature a limited assortment of branded groceries merchandised off pallets on the store floor or in large wire baskets. Its goods are delivered directly by suppliers, and stores operate mainly in second- or third-tier locations. Reports describe minimal fresh food offerings in some stores and little to no service or marketing; the company says this approach allows it to underprice hard-discount rivals such as Aldi and Lidl by 20% on average. “They make Aldi look like Wegmans,” Bryan Roberts, an analyst at Shopfloor Insights in London, told WGB . Mere stores in Europe feature merchandise sold from pallets delivered directly from suppliers. A company representative was not immediately available for comment. According to its website, “Mere stores are distinguished by a diverse range of high-quality products and an optimal price-quality ratio. With our unique experience in the supply of fresh products, we are far ahead of other market players. Our partnerships are built not only with large manufacturers, but also with small local suppliers, which allows small entrepreneurs to consistently supply their products to our stores.” While it is not known how the concept would adapt to the U.S., the store would appear to signal the potential for a “no-frills” approach to discount food that has largely been abandoned amid the evolution of stores such as Aldi and Save A Lot. Those concepts, while remaining true to core efficiencies that support low prices, have also broadened assortments and modernized their stores in recent years behind a focus on mainstream customers. It is not known whether Mere has secured any real estate sites in the U.S. as yet, although its focus on Alabama and Georgia would suggest it could be seeking rural communities currently served by small independents, mass discounters such as Walmart and concepts like Dollar General that are in the process of expanding grocery. Mere's single job listing in the U.S. seeks a commercial real estate specialist, preferably one with knowledge of Russian language. The Mere expansion comes about a decade since Russia’s largest food retailer, X5 Retail Group, abandoned a nascent plan to expand in the U.S. behind a small discount concept known as Okey-Dokey. A small handful of Okey-Dokey stores opened in South Florida in 2012 but closed within a year. It had at one time envisioned hundreds of U.S. stores. See here for more: https://www.winsightgrocerybusiness.com/retailers/russian-discounter-mere-eyes-us-expansion-job-listing-shows#

Discount Retail Chain Mere (owned by the Russian Schneider family) deploys to Spain and prepares for France. Mere is the translation of "mother", the Russian hard-discounter who seeks to establish himself in France. It will be in Pont-Sainte-Marie (10150), Sainte-Marguerite (88100) and Thionville (57100). On its website, the Russian distribution group Svetofor indeed announces three openings in France in October 2021 at the Mere brand. "The territory of the Grand Est region is chosen to start the development of the network", we can read. But the company says "plans to open stores in all major cities in France and establish links with suppliers across Europe." It should be remembered that this brand is looking for unclaimed sites of 700 to 800 m² with, ultimately, somewhat the same expansion strategy as Noz, for example. By finding fallow land, they are thus in a strong position to negotiate their rents. It is quite similar to the first settlements of Lidl and Aldi in the 1980s with pauperized surfaces. They are not building stores from scratch. They recover existing surfaces. See here for more: https://www.lsa-conso.fr/le-hard-discounter-russe-mere-va-ouvrir-trois-magasins-en-france-en-octobre,389398?preview=11 #smartdiscount #mere #expansion #grwoth #drc #discount #retail #consulting #discountretail #discountretailconsulting #retailconsulting #google #twitter

Discount Retail Chain MERE (part of Svetofor and owned by Torgservis ) opened his newest store in Halle-Neustadt. The Russian discounter opened herewith its third market in East Germany. #smartdiscount #mere #expansion #growth #development #germany #drc #discount #retail #consulting #discountretail #discountretailconsulting #retailconsulting #google #twitter

The Russian discount retail chain MERE intends to open 40 supermarkets in Spain this year. Its competitive prices make the first reactions to be compared with other discounters such as Lidl, Aldi or DIA. The economic situation as a result of COVID-19 makes us think at first that it is not a good time to expand our businesses. The M ERE discount retail chain , on the other hand, has seen an opportunity in Spain. Its prices are between 10% - 20% lower than that of its competition, and its philosophy is based on a “no frills” model, without dependents, thus prioritizing simplicity. On their website , they launch a message aimed directly at the need to save in times of crisis, especially in the purchase of essential goods. Opening in the main Spanish cities is its objective and, precisely, Catalonia has become its center of expansion in this first stage of landing. In Russia, the chain has a total of 1,000 stores and intends to open about 40 in Spain (for now), the first known so far will open in Madrid in May. The Hard Discount is based on an industrial design without shelves, clerks or counters and with the products on pallets and boxes, and have a surface area of ​​between 800 and 1,200 m2, a figure that gives us a clue of the type of locations they will look for to open the first premises. When it comes to products, they have made it clear from the start that they want to establish strong relationships with national and European suppliers and prioritize constructive collaboration with local producers, manufacturers and contractors. Currently, they are in the selection phase of their suppliers and they want them to be local and simple, far removed from luxury and pretentiousness. However, they completely discard online sales and the creation of their own private label, as other supermarkets such as Mercadona have . They have compared themselves with other supermarket chains that used this model years ago, but it is evident that the use of boxes on pallets is quite similar to the infrastructure that other establishments such as Costco or Ikea may have. What is clear is that much expectation has been generated among future clients. Its motto “Low Cost. Every Day ”makes his philosophy clear, although from InfoNegocios we are clear that his arrival will be big. See here for more: https://infonegocios.barcelona/nota-principal/abre-mere-el-supermercado-ruso-que-promete-arrasar-en-espana-al-estilo-de-lidl-o-aldi #smartdiscount #spain #expansion #growth #development #drc #discount #retail #consulting #discountretail #discountretailconsulting #retailconsulting #google #twitter

Russian discount retail chain Mere (Schneider family owned ) has started accepting supplies of goods as it prepares to open its nearly completed first store in the UK. "We started taking deliveries at the Preston store. The opening date will be August 14th 2021," said The Grocer manager of business development at Mere UK, Aleksandr Czkalov. It is the first of four stores in the UK to be opened by Mere this year, the other three located in Castleford, Caldicot and Hiccups said that deliveries had so far been on schedule, although the company was prepared for the possibility of delays due to the ongoing national shortage of truck drivers. Mere wants to open 300 stores in the UK within a decade. Suppliers who want to work with Mere must deliver products directly to stores, and the chain will only pay them for the goods sold. Food will be on display on pallets and in a walk-in refrigerator. Each discounter with an area of about 10 thousand square feet will offer no more than 1,200 SKU, and the staff will be about eight people. See here for more: Mere prepared for uk first opening - Detail (dlahandlu.pl) #smartdiscount #mere #uk #expansion #opening #drc #discount #retail #consulting #discountretail #discountretailconsulting #retailconsulting #google #twitter #harddiscount #hd

Russian discount retail chain Mere (owned by the Russian Schneider family) plans to open 10 stores in Belgium by the end of 2021. With a minimalist store concept reminiscent of the 80s and budget-friendly prices, it sees opportunities at the economy end of the market. Mere: A new player will soon join the retail landscape in Belgium, of which Flanders is the northern region. Russian discount chain Mere announced on its website that it wants to open 10 stores in the country this year. The exact locations are not yet known, except for three sites: one in Flanders (Opwijk) and two in Wallonia. No-frills stores Mere sells food, household products and pet food, in addition to production surpluses,” explained Stefan Van Rompaey of specialist retail site RetailDetail in De Tijd. "Think of it as a combination of Aldi from the 1980s and an outlet chain that sells stock lots." Mere promises customers the very lowest prices, which is precisely why retail experts suspect Mere might be successful. In recent years, traditional retail chains on this end of the spectrum, such as Aldi and Lidl, have moved closer to the middle of the pack by offering more fresh products and well-known brands. Mere offers no branded products and spends little money on marketing or store design. The company’s stores are spartan: no shelves, and a limited range of 1,500 to 2,000 essential products are displayed on pallets. The number of staff in Mere stores is also kept to a strict minimum. A lot of people don't care about a nice store layout. Mere's rock-bottom prices may be what sets the chain apart from others. Stefan Van Rompaey chief editor at RetailDetail Ultimate economy pricesIn De Standaard, Gino Van Ossel, retail expert at the Vlerick Management School, indicated that the arrival of Mere could have consequences for the supermarket landscape in Belgium and Flanders: "If a new retailer can offer rock-bottom prices, there is a good chance that all supermarkets will follow that trend. Initially this will be local, but in the long term, it might have a larger effect." European conquest tour Mere might still be unknown to us, but it is by no means a small player. The company is one of the largest discounters on the Eastern European market. In Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, the chain operates under the name Svetofor. The retailer operates more than 2,000 stores in nine countries, accounting for EUR 1.3 billion in sales. In 2018, the discounter began a European conquest tour. Under the name Mere, it has already opened stores in Romania, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Spain. See here for more: https://www.flandersinvestmentandtrade.com/invest/en/news/russian-discounter-mere-enter-market-in-flanders?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=News+EN+Russian+discounter+Mere+to+enter+market+in+Flanders #smartdiscount #mere #belgium #expansion #growth #drc #discount #retail #consulting #discountretail #discountretailconsulting #retailconsulting #google #twitter #harddiscount