By choosing Germany for his entry into Western Europe, in January 2019, the Russian Mere offered himself a nice publicity stunt at a lower cost. He attacked the historic bastion of Aldi and Lidl, two hard-discount pioneers who are somewhat gentrified. With the slogan “Only the lowest prices every day” and the promise of being 20% cheaper than its competitors, this troublemaker from Siberia has managed to attract, initially, the attention of the media and the curious in its first point of sale on the outskirts of Leipzig. Two years later, however, the record seems very meager.
A handful of points of sale have sprung up in Germany, Romania or Poland, still far from the ambition of a hundred stores in these countries by 2025. In addition, development projects “In France, Spain, Italy, Greece, the Czech Republic and other countries of the European Union”, listed by Mere on her official website, are slow to materialize. Is everything ready for an opening in Spain this month, as real estate site ThinkSpain reports, citing a local representative from Mere? And labels in French, seen in one of the chain’s German stores, do they presage an imminent arrival in France?
Goods on pallet
The mystery hangs over the intentions as over the financial capacities of the Russian group Torgservis which hides behind the new sign. Valentina Schneider, an octogenarian from Siberia, is the majority shareholder. With her two sons, she started by building one of the largest beer wholesalers in her region. The fall of the ruble, a consequence of the 2008 crisis, leading to the bankruptcy of its business, the Schneider family has rebounded in hard-discount. Targeting an insecure population, its first store opened in 2009 in Krasnoyarsk, followed by more than 1,500 others, in Russia but also in the former Soviet republics, under the Svetofor brand. Serbia, where an opening took place at the end of February, is one of the latest conquests.
“Mere moves from one supplier to another, taking advantage of the financial difficulties of some”, Frank Rosenthal, trade marketing expert
This Russian-style hard-discount seems to have been exported identically to Western Europe, only the name has changed. Mere recalls the famous “Discount punishment” from the beginnings of Aldi and Lidl. In warehouse stores, merchandise is presented on its pallet and prices are handwritten. Opportunism is the order of the day in purchasing, which gives pride of place to Russian producers or Eastern European countries. Trade marketing expert Frank Rosenthal points out that in order to get the most advantageous rates, “Mere goes from one supplier to another, taking advantage of the financial difficulties of some, and he shows little concern for the origin and the composition of the products”.
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