Mixed Retailers in Croatia

PROSPECTS

No room for mass merchandisers and warehouse clubs

Two mixed retailers formats – mass merchandisers and warehouse clubs – are completely absent from Croatian retailing. One reason is the size of the market; besides being a small country population-wise, with only four million inhabitants and the number slowly falling, Croatia also has a small total market size because of low per capita spend in retailing.

Variety stores prove the spice of life for Croatians

As a relatively new concept in Croatia, the variety stores channel is recording respectable growth and the only one performing well within mixed retailers. Just a decade ago, there were only a third of the number of variety stores that there are today.

Mini-malls now the answer as department stores are repurposed

Department stores represented a prestige retailing concept back in the 1980s, with virtually every town, even the smaller ones, having one right in the middle of the main high street. Department stores were not even chained, except for Nama, with most of them being independent department stores.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Department stores exchanges leadership with variety stores

At the beginning of the review period, department stores was the leading format, accounting for more than half of total value sales, with the number of variety stores being only two thirds of the present total. As the two channels’ opposing directions of performance developed, value sales of variety stores are now nearly four times that of department stores.

Nama is the last one standing in department stores

Marks & Spencer was the only notable international chain active in mixed retailers, but it left the market in 2015 as the concept did not seem to work in Croatia. The department stores competitive landscape is now occupied only by Nama, with two department stores located in Zagreb.

Offertissima has a comfortable lead in variety stores

Using the first-mover advantage, Offertissima took the variety stores landscape by storm. However, it was not the only significant player for long: the successful homeshopping company Studio Moderna – TV Prodaja doo decided to extend its homeshopping brand Top Shop into bricks-and-mortar retail as well.

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