TOM 04 2024

Page 2 T O M
NEWS
April 2024
EDEKA breaks through
70 billion euros in sales
In a challenging market environment,
the EDEKA cooperative
network can look back
on a positive business performance
in 2023. Total sales
across all divisions rose by 6.7
percent to 70.7 billion euros,
exceeding the 70 billion euro
threshold for the first time.
Woolworth only opened its
600th store in Germany in
June 2023. Less than a year
later, on April 25, 2024, store
number 700 will follow. The
company is continuing its expansion
course and believes
in the future of bricks-andmortar
retail.
With affordable everyday
items, the discounter appeals to
a broad target group, primarily
price-sensitive shoppers. The
retail concept enables Woolworth
to grow further. Within a
year, the discounter has opened
more than 100 stores in Germany.
On April 25, the company celebrates
the opening of its 700th
store. The milestone store is
located in the Linden-Center in
Berlin-Neu-Hohenschönhausen.
Woolworth operates over
The EDEKA Group can look back on a successful financial year.
Photo: EDEKA / Thomas Schinde
The core business area of the
EDEKA Group is the 6,700
stationary supermarkets and
hypermarkets, most of which
are operated by around 3,400
independent retailers. In 2023,
they once again demonstrated
their ability to adapt creatively
to changing market conditions.
Over the course of the year,
EDEKA entrepreneurs generated
sales of 39.3 billion euros (+
7.7 percent), with like-for-like
sales up by almost five percent.
In line with the cooperative‘s
mission to promote entrepreneurship
within its own ranks,
the EDEKA wholesalers handed
over a total of 91 self-managed
stores into the hands of
independent traders, 45 of them
to start-ups. Over the course
of the year, 122 young entrepreneurs
took the step into selfemployment
with their own
EDEKA store. Over the past
five years, the total number of
start-ups amounted to 538.
30 other stores in the German
capital. „We have 700 stores
in Germany, are continuing to
expand our international store
network and are extending our
logistics complex and head
office. So we are growing in
many ways and bucking the industry
trend,“ explains Roman
Heini, CEO of Woolworth. „In
Germany, we see potential for
more than 1500 stores. We are
moving quickly towards this
Netto Marken-Discount also
continued to develop dynamically
and increased its sales to
17.1 billion euros in 2023, an
increase of 8.5 percent compared
to the previous year (+ 7.5
percent on a like-for-like basis).
In 2023, 116 new Netto stores
were opened across Germany
and 450 locations were modernized.
The group increased
its investments in retail infrastructure
in Germany: a total of
around 2.8 billion euros was
invested in IT, logistics, the expansion
of production capacities
and the opening of modern
stores across the group.
With 249 new retail locations,
EDEKA (133) and Netto Marken-Discount
(116) maintained
their high rate of expansion.
The total sales area of all
11,048 stores increased to 12.1
million square meters (+ 1.1
percent). Investments of around
3.1 billion euros are planned for
the current financial year.
Woolworth reaches next milestone
- already 700 German stores
Woolworth is expanding significantly and will soon open its 700th
store.
Photo: Woolworth
goal.“ The company has recorded
sales of well over one
billion euros and is continuing
its growth course in Germany
and other European countries.
Woolworth has been active in
Austria and Poland since 2023.
Further countries will be added
next year. The retail chain plans
to operate 5000 stores in Europe.
The discounter is headquartered
in Unna, Westphalia.
Ex-Kaufhof
Supervisory Board
Chairman Beetz also
becomes new Galeria
co-owner
In addition to the US investment
company NRDC Equity
Partners, the entrepreneur Bernd
Beetz will also acquire a stake in
the insolvent department store
chain Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof.
The two companies would therefore
form a consortium.NRDC
and Beetz, who is president of
third-division soccer club SV
Waldhof Mannheim, did not respond
to requests for comment.
Retail sales in the
eurozone fall more
sharply than expected
Retail sales in the eurozone fell
more sharply than expected in
February. They fell by 0.5 percent
month-on-month, as reported
by the European statistics office
Eurostat in Luxembourg on Friday.
Economists had expected an
average decline of 0.4 percent.
According to revised data, sales
had stagnated in January. An increase
of 0.1 percent had initially
been calculated.
Purchasing power
2024 in Germanspeaking
countries:
Austria the biggest
winner
With an average per capita purchasing
power of EUR 52,566,
the Swiss will once again have
significantly more money available
for spending and saving in
2024 than the inhabitants of neighboring
Austria and Germany.
Austrians have a per capita purchasing
power of EUR 29,266,
while Germans will be able to
spend an average of EUR 27,848
this year. However, the new GfK
Purchasing Power Study 2024
shows that there are significant
regional differences in terms of
net disposable income not only
between countries, but also within
each country.
According to GfK‘s forecast,
the purchasing power of Switzerland‘s
more than 8.8 million
inhabitants will amount to a total
of 463.4 billion euros in 2024
(excluding Liechtenstein). In
Austria, the more than 9.1 million
inhabitants will have a total
purchasing power of around
266.5 billion euros, while the
total purchasing power