The 6 most resounding “locks” for large foreign store chains in Greece
End of an era for the Turkish home goods chain English Homepage with the closure of a total of 17 stores in Greece in two years, with the last flagship of all in the shopping center River West.
The Turkish chain entered the Greek market in 2014, while it has a strong position in the market of Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, as well as in Poland and Ukraine. Rumors state that the reason for the lockout was changes in the company’s management, but also disputes with property owners, however, this is not the first (or the last) large foreign chain to fail in Greece.
In fact, the rest of the names are even more resonant.
See in detail six famous foreign chains that failed in our country.
Pizza Hut
The first store in Greece was opened in 1989 and in the following years it experienced great prosperity, as the Pizza Hut brand was recognized in 1997 by the last leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, while in 1995 it was advertised by Donald Trump, the who will become President of the USA.
Pizza Hut in Greece experienced glory days with 45 stores per country, however, the take away and delivery model is hurting its strong turnover. In particular, 27 stores closed between 2010 and 2014 alone, with the corona virus giving the last blow. Finally, the definitive lockout came in the summer of 2020.
Fnac
He came to Greece in 2005 in a scheme together with Marinopoulos Group, with extremely big ambitions. In fact, in 2009 its plan was to create about 10 stores, however, the financial crisis caught the foreign company unprepared. Just one year after the announcements, the flagship stores in shopping centers are closing their doors (they became Public) and the French chain is leaving Greece.
Saturn
Just two years before the financial crisis of Greece, Saturn came to the country as a chain of electrical goods with premium products of high aesthetics and high prices. The fate of the German company was predetermined, with the MediaMarkt brand (also the most economical of the Group) becoming dominant within three years, while overall Media Saturn passed to the Public Group in 2019.
Forever 21
Forever 21 opened a unique store in Greece, but it was emblematic. 3000 sq m on four levels in Ermou and Evangelistrias, which is no small thing. , it lasted a while… namely just two years from 2017 to 2019. The low-cost clothing chain never completed its plans to open a store in Thessaloniki, but even more so it did not convince the Greek professionals. Ultimately, the American chain met an inglorious end in the country too as it went bankrupt in 2019.
Plus and Aldi
These are the most short-lived supermarkets in Greece and they are both German. The Plus and Aldi chains were never recognized by the Greeks. Plus came to Greece in 2006 and in 2008 sold its stores to “AB Vasilopoulos”, while Aldi came in 2008 and left in 2010.
It wasn’t a waste of investment, however, as Plus reached 33 stores and Aldi 38! In fact, Aldi in particular was a discount chain, which theoretically could stay in Greece during the crisis.