Metro Group has launched its first convenience store format in Russia under the banner ‘Fasol’ as part of a trial in the country.
A spokesperson for the group told just-food that the format, which launched officially last week, has started with the opening of two convenience stores in St Petersburg.
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“The franchise programme is the latest measure Metro Cash & Carry has developed to help increase [neighbourhood] shops’ competitiveness and viability in today’s business context,” the spokesperson said.
Metro, which operates a c-store, non-franchise format in Russia under the Punct banner, said it plans to open around 15 Fasol stores as part of the trial by the end of the year, in Saint-Petersburg and Rostov-on-Don.
The retailer said the Fasol shops have a sales floor space of between 50sq m and 150sq m. The outlets are also operated by the shop owners and not by Metro Cash & Carry and the owners are not required to pay a franchise fee or other lump sum to join the programme, provided they fulfill the contractual commitments, mainly related to assortment, Metro said.
The retailer has stipulated that the shops are required to “source a mutually agreed amount of goods” including the group’s private label products from Metro’s wholesale markets, but that they still have the “operational freedom to choose additional products according to their customers’ needs and local specialities”.
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By GlobalData“During this testing phase, the franchise programme will be open to customers already involved in the ‘School of Trade’, an initiative launched in 2009 by Metro Cash & Carry Russia aimed at strengthening small shops’ competitiveness through a series of training courses for knowledge and experience sharing. The company will then analyse the developments and results of the franchise programme before deciding on further steps.”
Metro said it will offer a range of support measures to the stores in assortment building, store layout and branding, pricing and promotion, in addition to consulting, training and IT solutions.
Metro Cash & Carry has launched similar franchise programmes in Poland, Bulgaria and Romania under respective local brands.
