Tesco In Turkey
11/03/2008
In November 2003 Tesco bought the Kipa chain for £75m. Kipa is a small and profitable chain that owns five hypermarkets in the Aegean region of Turkey.73
Tescos operation in Turkey, Tesco Kipa, yesterday opened its 13th hypermarket in the country in Corlu. Chief executive Steve Hammet reiterated that the retailer planned GBP150 million (USD281.1 millon) investment next year and is targeting TRL1 billion (USD552.5 million) in sales revenue this year.
The worlds fourth largest supermarket chain said it will open another eight hypermarkets and four smaller stores in Turkey this financial year, extending its present standing of eight Kipa-branded stores.
A further eight more are planned for 2008.
The company intends to head off competition by experimenting with smaller formats too. It will expand its Express convenience offering after the first Ismer-based store was successfully opened in March. The trial will eventually extend to a further 10 stores.
The firm revealed in its end-of-year financial statement that Turkey has delivered very strong performance over the last 12 months. Profits doubled and sales rose sharply.
The three new stores in the smaller cities of Canakkale, Bodrum and Antalya all recorded strong sales performance, encouraging the firm to spread its catchment areas.
The Bodrum store was the first designed by Tesco, and will act as a blueprint for future expansion.
The new stores will carry the Kipa Value brand, which was launched last year and contrains more than 400 products.
Currently Turkey has a growing population of 72m and has what analysts describe as an underdeveloped retail market.
by Simon Cuss - Mandalya Properties
