Mercator (retail)

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Mercator d.d.

Type	Public
Founded	1949
Headquarters	Ljubljana, Slovenia
Key people	Žiga Debeljak, President of Management Board
Industry	Retail
Revenue	2.730 million USD (2006)
Employees	21.103 (2006)
Website	www.mercator.si

For other uses of the word Mercator, see Mercator.

Mercator is a Slovenian retail chain based in Ljubljana. The company was founded in 1949 under the name Živila Ljubljana, but four years later it was renamed and given its current name. Today, Mercator is the biggest Slovenian retail chain, operating hypermarkets, supermarkets and grocery stores in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.

Until the end of the 1990s, the company operated only in Slovenia, but then it started to spread on other markets by opening new hypermarkets in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. In 2002, Mercator also opened its first hypermarket in Serbia. Its primary market remains the home market in Slovenia, where the company currently operates 17 hypermarkets, but in early to mid-2000s they opened several new hypermarkets in Croatia and the company currently operates 5 hypermarkets in the country. There are also two Mercator's supermarkets in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as one in Serbia. Apart from operating hypermarkets, the company also operates a total of more than 1,000 small grocery stores and supermarkets in aforementioned countries. Their future plans are to spread on the markets outside the territories of the former Yugoslavia and become one of the largest supermarket chains in Southeastern Europe.

Apart from selling products of renowned national and international companies, Mercator also operates its own brand of various food, drink and household products that are sold at discount prices in their supermarkets and groceries.

In 2006 Mercator Took over Serbian company M&B Rodić

Marketshare (2005)

-Slovenia - 48,9% -Serbia - 11% (Together with M&B Rodić, which is owned 100% by Mercator) -Croatia - 4% -Bosnia and Hercegovina - 5%