Cyprus Mail 24 February 2025 - by Souzana Psara
The Sklavenitis Group aims to secure second place in the Cypriot market, while upgrading and expanding storage and production facilities in Greece in 2025, according to reports that emerged on Monday.
The same reports suggested that the management of Greece’s leading retailer is also evaluating expansion into other markets, including the Balkans and Central Europe.
However, sources close to the company told Greek outlet Oikonomikos Tachydromos (OT) “that there is no concrete plan for such a move at this stage”.
Regarding Cyprus, the investment plan for renovating the nine Papantoniou stores acquired last November is already underway.
The objective is to integrate them into the ‘Sklavenitis system’ across the network, with work expected to be completed by autumn or, at the latest, by the end of 2025.
The Egkomi hypermarket, fully renovated, is set to reopen under the ‘Sklavenitis’ name in early March.
The company aims to establish itself as the second-largest supermarket chain in Cyprus, with the ultimate goal of becoming the market leader.
It should be noted that Sklavenitis entered Cyprus in 2017 following the acquisition of the struggling Marinopoulos chain, in what was the largest bailout deal in domestic retail history.
The company initially operated 18 stores across Nicosia, Limassol, Larnaca, Paphos, and Paralimni.
With the addition of the nine Papantoniou supermarkets—five in Paphos, three in Limassol, and one in Nicosia—the chain now has 27 outlets, strengthening its position among the country’s major retailers.
Expectations for 2024 place turnover between €230-250 million, with a target of reaching €400 million in the coming years.
Competition remains intense, as Lidl Cyprus and Alpha Mega, which currently hold the top two positions, are expected to defend their market share aggressively.
While ambitions in Cyprus and Greece remain a priority, plans for entry into a new market have been set aside for now.
The group’s investment plan, worth €280 million for the 2025-2026 period, focuses on infrastructure projects, including consolidating warehouse facilities and upgrading production units.
A key part of the plan is bringing all distribution centres in Attica into a single facility while repurposing the freed-up locations to optimise production operations.
Moreover, in logistics, Sklavenitis has planned the creation of 125,000 square metres of new storage space.
An agreement with Trastor REIC has been signed for leasing a logistics complex in Aspropyrgos, which will become the largest single distribution and warehousing centre in Greece.
Covering 74,766 square metres and offering a storage volume of 83,000 pallets, the facility will support supply operations for stores in Attica, Central Greece, and the Peloponnese, with completion expected by the end of 2025.
Additionally, 3,500 square metres will be added to the Thessaloniki logistics centre, while the mixed-use industrial building in Magoula, spanning approximately 42,000 square metres and owned by Glaros, a Sklavenitis family interest, is set to begin operations soon.
In the ready meals sector, the Glaros group acquired all shares of Mandra Real Estatein July 2024.
Originally established in April 2021 by Ten Brinke Greece for real estate management, the company was renamed ‘Aura Meals Production Ltd’ and has shifted its focus to food production, processing, standardisation, packaging, and marketing.
Sklavenitis has no plans for major expansion projects this year, with new store openings being limited to areas where the chain currently has no presence.
One such move was its January debut on the island of Patmos, where a new 430-square-metre store opened in Skala, employing 20 workers.
It was reported that while the company “continues to assess opportunities, further acquisitions cannot be ruled out”.
The group currently operates 540 stores across its brands—Sklavenitis Greek Hypermarkets, Sklavenitis Cyprus, Halkiadakis, and The Mart—employing 40,031 people and serving an average of 712,000 customers daily.
Regarding its store network, Sklavenitis has also continued investing in real estate. In its latest transaction, worth €37.99 million, the company acquired three hypermarkets from Prodea that it had previously leased.
These stores are located on Petrou Ralli Street in Nikaia (36,961 square metres), Chimarras Street in Maroussi (11,663 square metres), and in Katerini (3,639 square metres).
A significant upcoming project is the redevelopment of the former Pitsos factory in Rentis, which is expected to be the group’s largest investment to date.
On January 31, 2025, the general directorate of restoration of museums and technical works of the Ministry of Culture approved the preliminary study for the site’s transformation. The final study is now being prepared.
Plans include a shopping centre with a hypermarket, catering facilities, a playground, offices, and a multipurpose hall, turning the historic industrial plant into a landmark.
The completion timeline remains open, as necessary environmental and urban planning permits must be obtained before construction can begin.
Terna, the construction arm of the Terna SA group, has been selected as the contractor for the project.
The two companies have a long-standing relationship, with Terna having previously built ten Sklavenitis supermarkets.
The former Pitsos factory, where refrigerators and electric cookers were produced for 62 years, was purchased by Greek Hypermarkets Sklavenitis for €26 million.
The acquisition was recently disclosed in the financial statements of BSH (Bosch, Pitsos, Gaggenau), the property’s seller.
Financially, Sklavenitis continues to lead the Greek retail market. The first two months of 2024 indicate strong performance, with revenue growth exceeding that of the overall supermarket sector.
While the market grew by 3.6 per cent by the end of 2024, reflecting lower inflation, Sklavenitis maintained a significant lead over its competitors.
Estimates place the group’s total turnover for 2024 between €5.4 and €5.5 billion, up from €5.16 billion in 2023.
