Mercator (retail)

Mercator d.d.

Type	Joint-stock company
Industry	Retail
Founded	Slovenia, S.F.R.Y. (1949 (1949))
Headquarters	Ljubljana, Slovenia, E.U.
Number of locations	1,428 stores (2014)
Area served	Slovenia, Southeast Europe
Key people	Toni Balažič (President) Ante Todorić (Chair, Agrokor)
Products	Cash & carry, convenience store, discount store, e-commerce, hypermarket, supermarket
Brands	Mercator
Services	Food, tourism, fuel
Revenue	€2.8 billion (2013)
Number of employees	22,922 (2013)
Parent	Agrokor (majority owner)
Slogan	The Best Neighbor
Website	Commercial website
Footnotes / references Corporate website

Mercator (mer-kah-tawr; meaning merchant) is a Slovenian multinational retail corporation in the Central/Southeast Europe.^[1] Apart from selling products of renowned national and international companies, Mercator also operates its own brand of various foods, drinks, and household products sold at discount prices.^[2] Aside from retail, Mercator also provides travel services for tourists,^[3] and payment-automated filling stations^[4] in Slovenia.

History

Mercator was founded in 1949 under the name "Ljubljana Groceries" (Slovene: Živila Ljubljana),^[5] and four years later it was given its current name, Mercator. The company operated only in Slovenia until the 1990s, and later started opening retail stores in other countries in the Balkans, with future plans to spread on markets outside the territories of the former Yugoslavia.

Mercator entered retail markets of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2000, Serbia in 2002, Macedonia in 2005, and Montenegro in 2007. At the end of 2009, Mercator opened stores in Tirana, Albania, and Stara Zagora, Bulgaria. While also planning on opening seven other shopping centers in Bulgaria,^[6] Mercator considered exiting the Bulgarian market by 2013. In 2012, Mercator also planned to withdraw from the Albanian market; after which it closed the two stores located in the largest Albanian cities of Tirana and Durrës, in January 2013.

To pay off its debt, Slovenian shareholders agreed to Croatian Agrokor acquiring a 53.1% stake in Mercator in late June 2014,^[7] and additional 27.6% of the company shares in early Septermber, 2014; leading to wast closure of Mercator stores in Croatia and Bosnia, and acquirement of nearly an equal amount of additional stores in Serbia.

Operating divisions

Clockwise: Hypermarket in Novi Sad, self-checkout terminal, Mercator Center in New Belgrade.

While Mercator's primary market remains in Slovenia, it is also operating its retail chain in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Montenegro.

Croatia

Mercator opened the first store in Pula, in 2000; following with establishment of over 40 hypermarkets and supermarkets, and many more convenience stores in Croatia.^[8] Following Agrokor's acquisition of Mercator, most stores were leased out to Konzum or closed down in late 2014.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Mercator opened the first store in Sarajevo, in 2000, and later several additional hypermarkets, supermarkets, and convenience stores in Bosnia and Herzegovina.^[9] Most stores were transferred to Konzum in late 2014.

Serbia

The first Mercator store was opened in Belgrade, in 2002. Today, the company has stores in many Serbian cities, including Belgrade^[10] and Novi Sad. An upscale supermarket in the basement of the Beograđanka skyscraper is branded Mercator Premium, while other stores are named Roda and Idea.

Montenegro

Mercator entered Montenegro's market in 2007.^[11] The retail chain is running stores named Mercator-MEX, and is also operating under the Roda banner.

See also

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mercator.

• Mercator Group, Slovenia