TALLINN - VP Market - the largest retail chain in the Baltics - said last week that it might purchase either the Selver or Oleg Gross retail chains in Estonia as a way of strengthening its foothold on the market.
VP Market general director Ignas Staskevicius told the weekly Eesti Ekspress that in addition to opening seven T-Market outlets in Estonia, the Lithuania-based retailer could purchase a local chain.
Staskevicius added that Selver and the retail chains of businessmen Juri Vips and Oleg Gross would ideally suit VP Market's expansion plans.
"And when we have a good team in Tallinn, it will no longer be difficult to open a store in Helsinki," he added.
VP Market, the biggest retail chain in the Baltic countries, said earlier that it wanted to become one of the three biggest retailers in Estonia, where until recently it has had a minor presence. Before the end of 2004 VP Market wants to open six or seven more stores in the northern Baltic country, while next year the number of T-Markets could increase to 40, which will be followed by Maxima shopping centers, Staskevicius said.
"We are making arrangements for fast-track growth in Estonia next year - so the sales of VP Market will grow further," Staskevicius told the Baltic News Service, adding that the chain would strive to become one of 2005's top three retailers.
Last week VP Market reported sales of 3 billion litas (880 million euros) for the first nine months of 2004 - a 17 percent rise year-on-year.
According to Staskevicius, it was the company's successful expansion in the Baltics that drove 2004 sales to such record highs.
VP Market currently runs a chain of 277 stores in the three countries, of which 187 are in Lithuania, 83 in Latvia and seven in Estonia. The company, which posted sales of 3.5 billion litas in 2003, a rise of 17.9 percent compared with 2002, is owned by nine individuals.
