On 6 February 2003 the German retail group, Marktkauf, opened its first shopping centre in Moscow directly on the motorway ring road round the Russian capital, taking as its slogan, “My Marktkauf –What more do you want?”
The German retail group has invested € 40 mio in the project, € 33 mio alone for the site of approximately 116 000 m² and for the building at Kotelniki.
Marktkauf Rus employs a workforce of around 720 at present, 20 of whom come from Germany. The company is reckoning with sales of € 50 mio for this current year already. A good 25 per cent of that amount should come from the DIY and garden centre operations. All in all the expectation is for the average sale per customer to come to 800 roubles (approx. € 23) and for the break-even point to be reached in between one and two years. AVA/Marktkauf is planning to build from five to ten new stores in the greater Moscow area within the foreseeable future.
The product range amounts to about 40 000 items each in both the DIY store and garden centre operation and the hypermarket. There is a particularly wide choice in the categories of auto aftercare (engine oils) and insulating materials. Marktkauf also has the first cutting machine for timber and sheet materials anywhere in Russia. The owners of the estimated six million dachas within reach of Moscow form an important target group. Altogether the catchment area of the first Marktkauf Center in Russia is estimated to cover a population of 1.1 mio.
Russian suppliers and wholesalers take care of 95 per cent of the supply of goods. About 50 per cent of the goods in the DIY superstore are of Russian manufacture. Russian journalists forecast a rosy future for the store: the prices in particular are acceptable because of Marktkauf’s positioning in the low to medium pricing segment.