Kemerovo retailer acquires real estate in Novosibirsk

Aquagroup, which is developing the Akvatoriya and Ekonomka chains in Kuzbass, has apparently decided to try its hand at the Novosibirsk market. The group has already acquired 2.37 thousand square meters here. m of real estate, spending 105.6 million rubles. This is not the first attempt by Kemerovo retailers to occupy a niche in the capital of the Siberian Federal District, but the previous ones cannot be called successful.

At the beginning of this week, Kemerovo-based Aquamarket LLC took part in several municipal auctions in Novosibirsk for the sale of non-residential premises. According to the final protocols, the company competed for five lots, managing to get four of them - premises on the street. Tankovaya, 45 (two lots), Aviastroiteley, 13, and Glinka, 4. At the beginning of July, Aquamarket also bought premises on the street. Uchitelskaya, 18. The total area of acquired assets is 2.37 thousand square meters. m. In total, Aquamarket had to spend 105.6 million rubles on them. The company's interest in these areas is evidenced, for example, by the fact that during the struggle for one of the premises in the building on the street. Tankovaya (a five-story residential building near Kalinin Square) 36 steps were taken. As a result, the price of the lot jumped from 9.29 million rubles. up to 24.47 million rubles. The same number of steps were taken in the bidding for 1.1 thousand square meters. m in a building on the street. Glinka, where the price of the lot rose from the starting price of 6.99 million rubles. up to 18.37 million rubles. It is also worth noting that in two of these cases, Aquamarket’s rival was the largest Siberian retailer Holiday, which is also actively buying Novosibirsk real estate this year.

Aquamarket LLC is part of the Kemerovo Aquagroup, which operates in the Kuzbass in the field of food retail and public catering. The group positions itself as a multifaceted company with more than 3 thousand employees, which is “confidently gaining momentum, strengthening its position to meet the requirements of tomorrow.” Currently, it has two chains of stores - Aquatoria supermarkets and Ekonomka discounters. In Kemerovo alone, Aquagroup has 17 retail facilities. In the regional center, the group also develops catering enterprises of various formats and food production (semi-finished products, meat, confectionery, bakery products, etc.). Aquamarket LLC actively participates in privatization auctions in the Kemerovo region and acquires real estate on the commercial market. So, this year Aquamarket bought a cinema that had not been operating for many years, which is now being reconstructed.

But so far Aquagroup has not been noticed in other regions. The group's management could not be reached for comment yesterday.

The volume of retail trade turnover in the Novosibirsk region is growing steadily. In the first half of 2012, according to the head of the regional department for regulation of the consumer market and services sector Larisa Yarkova, it amounted to 181.2 billion rubles. In comparable prices, compared to the same period in 2011, it increased by 1.7%. But, according to local market participants, this does not guarantee success for new players. According to the director for corporate development of the Novosibirsk group of companies "New Trading Systems" (stores operate under the brands "Universam of Successful Purchases", "Supermarket", "Leader of Economy", "Stolichny") Alexander Ageev, Aquamarket's entry into the largest retail market in Siberia will not be at all simple, since it “has been established for a long time and the competition in it is quite tough.” “It’s unlikely that the Kemerovo company will be able to offer consumers something special,” Mr. Ageev expressed doubts. In addition, he believes, the benefit from the “standard format” stores that Aquamarket is developing appears when their number reaches 15-20. Holiday CEO Rostislav Skorokhodov yesterday refused to comment on the company’s participation in the auction and the possible consequences of the appearance of Aquagroup stores for Novosibirsk retail.

Kemerovo retailers have tried more than once to enter the market of the Novosibirsk region, but this experience cannot be called very successful. The RegionMart company, which owns the Chibis and Polyana store chains, managed four retail facilities here (it opened its first hypermarket in Novosibirsk in the spring of 2009), but eventually abandoned them. The Kora company, in turn, decided to merge with Holiday in 2007. A representative of one of the Kuzbass trading companies described the retail market of Novosibirsk as very complex in all respects. “There are not enough resources and personnel, logistics are complex, and competition is higher, so profitability is lower than in Kuzbass,” he explained to Kommersant.

Igor Lavrenkov, Kemerovo; Valery Lavsky, Yuri Belov, Novosibirsk

Expansion of "Aquatoria"