Mixed Retailers in Finland

TRENDS

Mixed retailers experienced a transformation during the review period. The sales of department stores were hit hard during the economic downturn. It has also been claimed that such stores have not responded to changes in the market, and therefore saw falling sales. A decline was seen year-on-year throughout the review period, and it took one of its hardest hits in 2016, with a 12% decline in current value terms, as the struggling department store chain Anttila went bankrupt in mid-2016. On the other hand, variety stores saw strong sales growth in the review period. Consumers have embraced these outlets, which offer low-priced products. Retailers such as Tokmanni have worked consistently to build nationwide chains. This company acquired several local chains, and during 2014-2015 successfully rebranded these as Tokmanni. This culminated in the company being listed on the Helsinki stock exchange in spring 2016.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

The stagnant economy continued to benefit the variety stores retailer Tokmanni – its value share of mixed retailers grew from 29% in 2015 to 31% in 2016. This improvement in share was still partly connected to the opening of new stores in 2015, and to lesser extent in 2016. The company actively invested in its private label and store design in 2016, for example. Although Tokmanni has mentioned in the media that it is interested in some of the central premises that became available after Anttila went bankrupt, in the forecast period Tokmanni’s growth is likely to originate from its strategic positioning as an affordable, easy to access chain, than from the opening of new outlets.

PROSPECTS

Mixed retailers will continue to evolve and transform in the first years of the forecast period. The impact of the Anttila brand, which exited the market in mid-2016, will still be seen in department stores in 2017. Sales of department stores are set to decline by 15% in value terms at constant 2016 prices in 2017. Growth in variety stores and mass merchandisers, on the other hand, is expected to remain moderately positive. A strong decline is expected in the number of outlets in department stores, and no competitor is expected to invest in opening new stores, with department stores focusing on their existing stores. One key reason why sales in department stores could be even more affected in the forecast period is the interest of some chains, such as Sokos and Stockmann, in renting space in their department stores to other independent retailers. This could further affect the overall sales of department stores. In variety stores, in the event of Tokmanni opting for a highly aggressive growth strategy (it could consider taking over Anttila’s former outlets in very central locations), sales could see stronger growth than currently expected.

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