Mercadona to Open 10 New Stores in the North of Portugal in 2019

3 September 2018

After stating that the company would begin its internationalisation with new stores in Portugal in 2016, the company’s management committee in August approved the opening of eight to 10 stores in Portugal in 2019.

Mercadona will finally open stores in Portugal. The supermarket company has decided to go ahead with the launch of eight to ten stores, scheduled for the second semester of 2019. The decision comes after two years of analysis of the Portuguese market and is considered the beginning of the company’s plans for Portugal.

Juan Roig, president of the company, stated that “Portugal is a great opportunity to start Mercadona’s international growth,” and spoke of the commitment that is associated with the project. The total number of stores that the company will open in 2019 will be defined by licensing issues and the progress of construction, but the company’s target already exceeds the initial goal of four stores, announced in 2016.

The company is eyeing the districts of Porto, Braga and Aveiro for the expansion – a venture that will start with a total investment of 100 million euros (up from the 25 million euros initially planned). The company also plans to create 300 jobs, in addition to the 200 that already exist in Portugal.

“In Portugal, we want to be Portuguese.”

Since the beginning of the group’s preparations to enter Portugal, Mercadona’s premise has always been: “In Portugal, we want to be Portuguese.” To this end, the company already opened its local headquarters in Porto, where the company has its central offices, in addition to those in Lisbon. The first major step that the chain took was to create the company Irmãdona Supermercados S.A. in Portugal.

The Spanish company will also operate a 1,000-square-meter ideas lab at the Coinovação (co-innovation) Centre in Matosinhos, which will help the Mercadona team to define the range of products that it will carry in Portugal. The centre will conduct detailed studies of the taste and consumption habits of its future Portuguese customers.

In Póvoa do Varzim, Mercadona is constructing a logistics platform to serve its supermarkets in Portugal. The two plots of land it acquired have a total area of 50,000 square meters.

Original Story: Economia Online – Ana Sofia Franco

Translation: Richard Turner