“Epicenter” Plans to Expand Its Grocery Supermarket Network in Ukraine

The network of shopping centers “Epicenter” and its group of companies continue to actively develop their grocery stores, particularly the “Food Market” chain. Currently, it consists of 26 retail locations, but over the past year, some of them have been lost due to destruction caused by military actions.

This is reported by AgroReview

“Unfortunately, part of Food Market was lost in shopping centers that suffered destruction as a result of military actions,” said the company’s top manager Oleg Shkarovsky.

According to Oleg Shkarovsky, four new “Food Market” locations were opened in 2024, three of which are located in the Kyiv region, and one in Chernihiv. Plans for the current year include the opening of five new stores in various regions of Ukraine, but the number may increase depending on the security and economic situation.

Development Strategies and Store Formats

The top manager notes that the company is constantly experimenting with store formats. Currently, there are small stores with a basic assortment of goods, but the most successful are gastro-markets with a wide selection of products, ranging in size from 2,800 to 3,200 square meters.

“We are constantly experimenting. Today we have small stores with a basic set of products. However, the most successful are full-fledged grocery gastro-markets with a wide range of goods, and their optimal size is 2,800−3,200 square meters,” said Shkarovsky.

Further Development of “Epicenter Express” Stores

At the same time, the company continues to develop the “Epicenter Express” network, where some stores have up to 50% of food products. These stores have significant potential for increasing the assortment and sales volume.

The top manager reported that the company currently does not plan to expand beyond its own shopping centers for the development of “Food Market” formats.