Hypermarket building boom continues amid international expansion in Poland

Major international hypermarket chains are going ahead with their expansion in Poland, despite dwindling domestic demand. Casino Group plans to establis h 40 new Leader Price stores, investing some zl.218 million in 2002 and up t o zl.5 billion over the next three years. Tesco will build four new supermar kets in 2002, which will lead to an increase in its Polish workforce from 7, 000 to some 10,000. Carrefour, which is already constructing three new hyper markets, in Warsaw, Gdansk and Krakow, is also planning to establish between ten and a dozen new medium-sized outlets this year and to increase its sales to zl.3.5 billion. While Metro AG has not revealed any detailed plans yet, f urther rapid development of its network can be expected. Spokesperson Renata Juszkiewicz pointed out that the company has invested zl.2.9 billion in Pola nd to date, including zl.450 million in 2001 alone, and is currently working on a number of new projects. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 21; Rzeczpospolita, p. B4) M.K.