“Vkusville” launched new compact stores “Vkusville Mini”

Low rental rates for small spaces are stimulating retailers’ interest in compact stores. Format of retail outlets with an area of ​​60 sq.m. m also launched “Vkusville”, hoping to increase their number. This segment already has a large share of chains such as Fasol and Avocado, and working in small spaces is fraught with difficulties, experts point out.

On September 20, Vkusville JSC filed an application to register the trademark “Vkusville Mini,” as follows from the Rospatent database. The company clarified that we are talking about a new format of stores with an area of ​​60 to 80 square meters. m versus 100–250 sq. m near standard objects. The chain says that the project should allow an increase in the number of stores with the greatest walking distance to the buyer. The range of mini-points will depend on the demand of area residents. The format has been tested since the beginning of the year and has entered the scaling stage: 113 Vkusville Mini stores have already been opened in Moscow and the Moscow region, the company says.

Vkusville has been experimenting with formats for a long time, and tried to develop small stores in 2018. At that time, such outlets were launched with an assortment reduced by approximately half and opened in locations where standard-sized stores did not find sufficient demand. In addition, since 2018, Vkusville has been developing micromarkets with self-service checkouts in offices, and since 2019, vending machines. In June 2023, the chain had over 500 machines and about 550 micromarkets, which is roughly the same as at the beginning of this year.

Olga Sumishevskaya, partner of the consulting company One Story, says that Vkusvill chose very small areas to open mini-stores. According to her, similar premises are occupied, for example, by the Fasol chain, which is being developed under a franchise in Russia by the German Metro. To open Fasol stores, stores with an area of ​​25 square meters are being considered. m, follows from the information on the network website. General Director of Infoline-Analytics Mikhail Burmistrov adds that premises of a similar small area are also rented by the Krasnoe & White chain.

Irina Bolotova, a partner in the Pro.Story service for organizing retail space, notes that convenience stores today are one of the most promising formats along with discounters, since consumers prefer points that are as geographically accessible as possible. According to Infoline, in January-July, convenience stores accounted for 12.5% ​​of the space of the 200 largest chains selling food and consumer goods. The share of this format has been growing since at least 2015, when it was about 10.4%. Among the active players, analysts highlight the Sweet Life Group of Companies, which develops Avocado small-format stores as a franchise, as well as the Pervym Delo chain. “Avocado” included 4.9 thousand stores as of July 2023, “First of all” – 738 objects, according to the Infoline review.

DNA Realty CEO Anton Belykh notes that small premises are easier to find, and renting such areas will be cheaper than more spacious premises. According to his estimates, rent of premises up to 90 sq. m can cost Vkusville up to 200 thousand rubles. per month, which is two to three times less than the average cost of renting a standard format store. But, notes Irina Bolotova, working in small spaces in houses is complicated by difficult logistics and a limited number of kilowatts.

Olga Sumishevskaya points out that it will be difficult to maintain a unique offer at each location. According to Mikhail Burmistrov, Vkusville can solve the problem by delivering goods by courier at the request of customers from the dark store, optimizing personnel costs. Irina Bolotova adds that restructuring the assortment to suit the tastes of customers may take time.

Polina Gritsenko