‘Following the arrival of the federal and multinational players on Yekaterinburg retail food market, it had to undergo redistribution, yet it’s early times yet to say if the changes happened to be substantial,’ says Alexei Podolyako, CEO of Alliance Non-Commercial Partnership.

‘The changes appear to be most keenly felt in the areas adjacent to the new supermarkets’ premises. Grossmart is the one who managed to achieve the most by taking over 8% to 10% of Pionerskiy-district grocery market. Auchan and Metro are based on the outskirts of the city, so it would be an exaggeration to say they have changed the market dramatically. They naturally enticed some customers from the neighboring districts (Verkh-Isetskiy and Kirovskiy, respectively); however, their main victory so far has been attracting the customers commuting to Yekaterinburg from satellite towns,’ Mr Podolyako explained.