Russian MERE Begins Expanding in Serbia – First Market Locations Bought

The Russian retail chain Svetofor, known in Europe under the MERE brand, has begun expanding in the Serbian market.

According to the Retail Serbia portal, the Russian branch in Serbia has bought the first locations through the country where it plans to officially start operating.

As announced in mid-August by the Russian branch in Belgrade, the plan is to open at least 100 market of an average area of around 1,000 m2 in the Serbian market.

It was said that they planned to work directly with the producers, entailing strict quality control and a low trade margin. They pointed out that their prices would be 20% lower than average.

MERE is a subsidiary of the Russian Torgservis Group, founded in 2009, which currently operates in more than 800 locations throughout Russia under the Svetofor brand (which translates as “traffic light”) and is the third biggest retail chain, after X5 and Magnit.

Retail Serbia also says that the Russian discount store chain is also planning to soon open its first stores in Greece, where it is actively looking for locations, whereas, in Athens, Thessaloniki and Patras, it is already developing the leased locations.

MERE Russia

Svetofor

Torgservis group

retail chains

markets