Winners of the Trade Act of the Year 2026 announced

TALLINN – The Estonian Traders' Association recognized four outstanding retail projects of the year at its annual Trade Congress.

Category awards were given to The Club at the T1 center, the crisis store network established by the Estonian Stockpiling Agency and six retail chains, the acquisition of Prisma Peremarket and its merger with Coop, and the new intranet of Viru Keskus.

From the four category winners, the jury selected the nationwide crisis store network as the overall winner of the Trade Act of the Year 2026.

The nationwide crisis store network, created in cooperation between the Estonian Stockpiling Agency and six retail chains, was chosen as the Collaboration Project of the Year and the overall winner of the Trade Act of the Year 2026. The network's goal is to establish 110 crisis stores across Estonia by the end of 2026. The stores will be prepared to continue operating during long-term power outages, and it will be possible to pay by card even if the data connection with the bank is down.

According to Nele Peil, CEO of the Estonian Traders' Association, the project highlights the broader role of retail in society. "Retail plays a fundamental role in society. The crisis store network demonstrates this very concretely: traders help keep people's daily lives functioning even in difficult situations and contribute to Estonia's crisis preparedness together with the state," Peil said.

Ando Leppiman, Chairman of the Board of the Estonian Stockpiling Agency, stated that crisis preparedness is primarily born from cooperation. "Crisis preparedness does not arise from stockpiled supplies in warehouses or written plans alone, but is born from the joint action of people, companies, and the state. Interest has also been shown in the crisis store experience outside of Estonia, which shows that a functioning cooperation model can serve as an example for others," Leppiman said.

In the New Concept of the Year category, the T1 center was recognized for creating The Club. The concept, which combines training, working, and relaxation, expands the traditional role of a shopping center from a place to shop to a leisure environment. According to T1 data, the center was visited by an average of over 12,500 people per day in August, and the total turnover of tenants was approximately 10% higher than in the same month of the previous year.

The Development Project of the Year award was given to Coop Estonia for the acquisition of Prisma Peremarket and its merger with Coop. On September 1, Coop became the owner of Prisma Peremarket and its 13 stores, with nearly 700 employees joining the company.

All 13 stores will be integrated into Coop's systems between September and November. For the Roo Prisma store, the first to be transitioned, the technical and visual changes were completed in just over 16 hours.

The Technological Innovation of the Year category was won by Viru Keskus for launching its new intranet. The unified work and self-service environment connects 107 shops and nearly 1,200 users.

Among other things, the intranet consolidates employee training, user accounts, and access permissions into a single workflow. Previously, manually issuing an access card could take up to a week.

With the Trade Act of the Year competition, the Estonian Traders' Association recognizes projects that create significant value for customers, companies, or the broader development of Estonian trade.