Store Openings, South Drive Italy MGR Sector

Italy's mass grocery retail (MGR) sector continues to expand, but is organic growth suffering from a spate of new store openings? According to figures published by Unioncamere union of local chambers of commerce, the turnover of Italian hypermarkets and supermarkets rose a healthy 3.4% year-on-year (y-o-y) in the period May to June 2006. But whilst newly opened outlets drove growth, existing outlets saw sales drop by 3.2%. The figures are surprising for World Cup winning Italy as sales in other countries with teams in the tournament generally saw a June bounce in growth in existing stores, with shoppers stocking up

To read the full article, please choose one of the following options: