Last liquor store in Grozny to close

The Lenta chain of stores is ceasing operations in the Chechen Republic, Shopper's reports. The chain's only hypermarket in Grozny will close after the New Year holidays.

The store, with a total area of more than 12,000 square meters, has been operating for nine years. Its opening was attended by the President of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov. Initially, the company viewed the region as a market with low competition and good solvency of the population. Experts noted the large amount of federal money in the republic and the high average check rate for certain categories of goods.

However, the retail chain's calculations did not pay off, and Lenta failed to take root in the republic. The hypermarket in Grozny remains the only one in Chechnya.

After Lenta leaves the region, only Svetofor remains from the federal network. Lenta was the only grocery store that sold alcohol, but alcohol was sold only for two hours a day - from 8 to 10 a.m. Also, alcohol could only be sold to guests and non-Muslims, says Mikhail Burmistrov, general director of Infoline-Analytik. The store was frequently raided by police to stop violations of these restrictions.

The ability to sell alcohol was seen by the owners of the retail chain as a strong competitive advantage, but in reality it did not turn out to be so. "The facility was operating at a loss and was financially worse off than other Lenta hypermarkets," the expert says.