Mercator (Slovenia)
 |
|
| Industry | Retail |
|---|---|
| Founded |
Slovenia, Yugoslavia (1949) |
| Headquarters | Ljubljana, Slovenia |
|
Number of locations
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1,428 stores (2014) |
|
Area served
|
Slovenia, Southeast Europe |
|
Key people
|
Toni Balažič (President) Ante Todorić (Chair, Agrokor) |
| Products | Cash & carry, convenience store, discount store, e-commerce, hypermarket, supermarket |
| Brands | Mercator |
| Services | Food, tourism, fuel |
| Revenue | €2.1 billion (2014) |
|
Number of employees
|
22,922 (2013) |
| Parent | Agrokor (majority owner) |
| Website | Corporate website |
Mercator (mer-kah-tawr; meaning merchant) is a Slovenian multinational retail corporation owned by the Croatian company Agrokor that is operating in the Central and Southeast Europe. Apart from selling products of renowned national and international companies, Mercator also operates its own brand of various foods, drinks, and household products sold at discount prices. Aside from retail, Mercator also provides travel services for tourists, and payment-automated filling stations in Slovenia.
Mercator was founded in 1949 under the name "Ljubljana Groceries" (Slovene: Živila Ljubljana), and four years later it was given its current name, Mercator. The first director of the firm was Adolf "Adi" Osterc (1918–2014), who served in the Partisans' Gubec Brigade during the Second World War and then carried out political arrests after the war. The company operated only in Slovenia until the 1990s, and later started opening retail stores in other countries in the Balkans, with future plans to spread on markets outside the territories of the former Yugoslavia.
Mercator entered retail markets of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2000, Serbia in 2002, Macedonia in 2005, and Montenegro in 2007. At the end of 2009, Mercator opened stores in Tirana, Albania, and Stara Zagora, Bulgaria. While also planning on opening seven other shopping centers in Bulgaria, Mercator considered exiting the Bulgarian market by 2013. In 2012, Mercator also planned to withdraw from the Albanian market; after which it closed the two stores located in the largest Albanian cities of Tirana and Durrës, in January 2013.
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Wikipedia