Is another German retail chain entering the Serbian market?

Illustration: Nikola Jovanovic; Photo: Shutterstock

The Serbian market is becoming more and more interesting to retail chains, so after Russia's MERE chain started expanding here, there were rumors that Germany's Billa could also enter the Serbian market, first in Vojvodina.

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Looking into this information, we checked in previous days what this was about. However, to our knowledge, the company is not yet negotiating its arrival in the Republic of Serbia.

The BILLA retail chain also operates in Austria, where this information seems to have come from, and is a part of REWE International. REWE International is owned by the German REWE Group, which has several other systems in addition to this chain.

After withdrawing from Croatia and Romania, Billa began to expand in Bulgaria, raising the number of its stores there to 131. This was proof that it is not giving up on investing in the Balkans, however, it seems only within the borders of certain countries.

The last newly opened supermarket is located in Sofia, in which Billa has a large share. What's characteristic of the company is the size of its facilities, and larger than standard size of its supermarkets.

Since we are mentioning the Austrian market, the largest family owned retail chain there is SPAR Osterreichische Warenhandels AG.

This company has researched and considered the possibility of coming to Serbia on several occasions since 2000, but each time the management gave up on the intention.

Photo: Wikipedia

Our market, but also the European market in general, is used to mainly German brands when it comes to stores, but the competition is coming and it is expanding to Serbia as well.

They are breaking through quickly with their business model, and the concept of "low prices each day." However, the fact that is forgotten is that such centers should be located 25 kilometers away from the city center (because they mainly operate on the outlet business principle).

Billa is an Austrian supermarket chain present in nine European countries with over 1,500 stores. The name of is an abbreviation from German, BILliger LAden, which means, "cheap store."

Would you like to see the Billa chain in Serbia? Tell us in the comments.

(V.B.)