Following the opening of a fourth store in Viana, Angolan supermarket chain Intermarket announced a major expansion plan that will see the retailer open a further 16 stores by 2022. If followed, the expansion will have a considerable impact on the grocery retail scene in Angola with a substantial increase of the Super Premium offering.
Angolan supermarket chain Intermarket announced a major expansion plan which, if followed, will see the retailer grow five times within the next four years. The announcement was made by Intermarket’s General Manager, Sandro Benelli, at the opening of the chain’s fourth store. Having opened its first store in 2017, Intermarket is currently one of only two supermarket chains operating in the Super Premium end of the spectrum, along with domestic retailer Casa dos Frescos.
Since it entered the Angolan market, Intermarket has slowly been growing its store network. A five fold growth of the retailer would have a significant impact in the Angolan grocery retail scene. With the opening of the new store, Intermarket already managed to attain 1% of floorspace market share among the leading modern retailers in Angola. With an additional 16 stores, the retailer would almost increase that to 6%, doubling Casa dos Frescos’ store network – which has declined in the past two years. This would have an impact in the grocery retail competitive retail in Angola and would likely hurt the operation of other retailers, certainly Casa dos Frescos but also others like South Afrcan chain Food Lovers’ Market. Additionally, although both domestic and international chains have been expanding in the country, there are no news of other players carving space in Super Premium offering. Intermarket seems to expect consumers’ disposable income to grow in pair with the current economic recovery in Angola and to support the greater store network.
The new outlet is a first for Intermarket in the Luanda suburb of Viana. According to the Trendtype Grocery Retail Database Tracker, Intermarket also has stores in Luanda and Cabinda only. We would not expect many of the new outlets to open outside these major cities.
Intermarket is part of the Webcor Group, headquartered in Switzerland. Webcor has in Angola its largest market and operates in the country under a partnership with food distribution and logistics company Angoalissar. Angoalissar confirmed the investment announced for Intermarket but did not comment on the exact amount the expansion would cost.
