Is Cyprus Sklavenitis' first step abroad before the next one?

With 18 stores across Cyprus, Sklavenitis is the second largest player in the local organized retail market. Its ascent to the top of the local market seems to be through the acquisition strategy that it has so successfully implemented in Greece in recent years. Who stands against him on this path?

It was in September 2016 when the closing of the rescue agreement of the Marinopoulos supermarket chain by Sklavenitis was announced. This bold move put Sklavenitis in a position of supremacy in the Greek territory and along with 11 more acquisitions over the years, it has now reached the point where it has 455 stores, 4 eMarket order distribution centers, and 6 distribution centers in Greece, serves an average of 600,000 customers daily, employs around 31,000 employees and cooperates with more than 3,000 suppliers from Greece and abroad.

Entering the Cypriot market

That year, however, was also the moment when the foundation stone was laid for the presence of Sklavenitis in Cyprus. The takeover through consolidation of Marinopoulos led the Sklavenitis Group to acquire control of the Carrefour network in Cyprus, gradually renaming the Carrefour and Carrefour Market supermarkets to Sklavenitis. At that time the Carrefour network had 18 outlets with a pan-Cypriot presence and a turnover of EUR 220 million.

The business strategy of Sklavenitis, with all the characteristics that have led it to its undisputed leadership position in Greece today, inevitably led the Cypriot supermarket market to a new phase and the local players to a necessary adjustment of their strategy.

Today, the subsidiary Sklavenitis Cyprus has 18 stores and a food preparation plant and employs 1,300 people, which ranks it second in the market.

The case of ALFAMEGA

One of the oldest chains on the island is ALFAMEGA Hypermarkets. Their history began in 1958 when the founder Charalambides opened his first hypermarket which soon became one of the largest in Cyprus, having gained a reputation for having the best and richest selection of domestic and imported products. In 1996, the ultra-modern for the time Charalambides Hypermarket opened in the Engomi area, which could easily be compared to some of the finest hypermarkets in Europe.

A year later, in 1997, it was the businessman Andreas Papaellinas who bought this Charalambides Hypermarket, establishing at the same time A. Papaellinas Commercial Limited, while in 2002 he renamed Charalambides Hypermarket to ALFAMEGA. This move marked the beginning of a new era, with the company starting its gradual expansion throughout Cyprus. In fact, in 2021, the company accelerated its digital transformation, expanding its e-commerce activities and creating its own e-store. Today, the chain has 19 stores and a turnover of more than €350 million.

Domestic competition

Opposite ALFAMEGA and Sklavenitis, are the Papantoniou Hypermarkets, which started in 1987 from Chloraka in Paphos. With a family tradition in agricultural production, it has evolved into another leading supermarket chain, currently operating five stores in the Paphos area, three in the Limassol district, and one in Nicosia. The company is the exclusive distributor of several world-class brands and has an exclusive partnership with Sainsbury's supermarket chain.

Among the companies in the top positions are also the company of Chr. Hadjichristofi Athenitis, which with two hypermarkets, one in Pallouriotissa and the other inside Nicosia Mall, employs 210 people and has a turnover of €140 million.

Like METRO Foods Trading Ltd's Cypriot hypermarkets METRO, which was founded in 1982 and today operates 6 stores nationwide, employing 400 employees.

Also, MAS Hypermarkets is the largest chain of hypermarkets in Cyprus. It was one of the first Hypermarket Associations established in Cyprus in 1996 with 7 autonomous hypermarkets. Today it has 58 points, where MAS Best Brand private label products are available, as well as Masoutis, Mr. Grand, and "From our land" PLs.

Lidl also has an important presence, which through its Cypriot subsidiary, a member of the Schwarz Group, opened its first seven stores in the country in 2010. Since then, the company has become a constant in the retail sector in Cyprus and is closely linked to the local economy. Currently, the chain has 20 stores and a logistics center in Larnaca and employs 700 people.

In the cash & carry sector, the Metro Group of Panteliadis' interests, which through its subsidiary MCC BEST VALUE Ltd, maintains the Best Value wholesale chain with a store in the old Lemeco premises in Limassol, is also a leading player in the Cypriot market. According to last year's figures, the outlet showed an 85% increase in turnover, which led the group to start looking for a second outlet, this time in Nicosia.

Sklavenitis in Cyprus has operated with patience and perseverance and it is a given that these two characteristics will benefit it. The Cyprus market is much smaller than the Greek market but it is of considerable interest to retailers as it is always a kind of test for opening new markets. Sklavenitis has all the potential to play a leading role in Cyprus which as a market has several similarities and differences with Greece.

Indeed, the possibility that the Cyprus market and the dominance of Sklavenitis there may be the first step of the next ones that will follow in other markets should not be excluded. Opening up new markets for supermarket companies is not easy, especially in recent years since even the big European retailers such as Carrefour and Tesco are quite conservative in new openings.

It will be interesting to see in the future if a company like Sklavenitis with a very unique way of operating and no communication can go abroad with claims. Everything indicates, however, that the company has the characteristics necessary for a course outside Greece and even to play a leading role in every market in which it has a presence.