Retail sector - it's trade that pays off

Let’s bring this up again. :slight_smile:

Extremely profitable, describes Professor of Practice Arhi Kivilahti the Finnish grocery trade.


Professor of Practice… had to google that… congratulations @Arhi_Kivilahti! :slight_smile:

Here is a link to an interview I did with Arhi. :slight_smile:

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https://x.com/AaltonenHannu/status/1902980036371640585

An interesting thread from the merchant of Citymarket Kupittaa about the things he pays attention to, as well as general in-store marketing.

This could just as well be coffee room material, but it ended up here now.

IMG_20250321_215711

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Today for listening, Aaltonen discussing with Virtanen

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Arttu and Rauli gave their comments on the domestic trade in February. :slight_smile:

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Arhi and I started making a video series that discusses different sub-sectors of retail and their international market leaders or otherwise interesting companies. Today, we released the first episode, which covers fashion retail.

If you have any questions, concerns, comments, or wishes regarding the production or content of the series, feel free to send us a message!

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Great first episode! Nice to listen to both of you. Especially @Arhi_Kivilahti’s experiences in Britain/Europe are something that a small investor living in Finland finds difficult to grasp without someone vocalizing them. I feel that your podcast creates added value for us :handshake:

Would you like to share topics for future episodes with us? At the end of the podcast, you referred to the sports retail sector, but besides that, there are probably other retail sub-sectors written in your notebook?

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Thanks for the feedback!

The next episode indeed deals with sports retail. Other topics have been discussed at a conceptual level, but the exact order or timing for these has not yet been decided.

So now is your chance to influence! :slight_smile:

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How about large European “construction stores”? Throughout Europe, construction and technical wholesale trade is not necessarily the same as it is here in the Nordic countries, á la Kesko.

But it would certainly be interesting to hear which big European “construction stores”, generally speaking, are the ones participating in the future reconstruction of Ukraine. I’m not sure if the topic hits the core of your two areas of expertise, but I would gladly listen to your (gut feeling) comments on the subject as well :smile:

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Here’s an announcement, surprisingly large numbers: Kysely: Yhdysvaltalaisbrändien tai -kauppojen käyttöä vähentänyt 40 prosenttia kuluttajista, 23 prosenttia aikeissa vähentää | Kauppalehti

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Here are Arttu’s and Rauli’s comments on the domestic trade’s performance in March. Kesko, Lindex, and Tokmanni are mentioned. :slight_smile:

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Arttu and Rauli wrote about how sales went in April. :slight_smile:

The target market for Kesko’s Grocery Trade, Tokmanni, and Stockmann’s Lindex division, i.e., the revenue of department store and hypermarket chains, rose by almost 10% in April. Sales increased in both groceries (11%) and the general merchandise product group (6%). Within general merchandise, development was twofold, as sales of clothing, which had suffered for a long time, decreased by one percent. In contrast, sales in the home and leisure product group increased by as much as 9%. The rise in grocery sales, in particular, reflects the differing timing of Easter compared to the reference period.

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@Arhi_Kivilahti was a guest on @m_jylha’s Pörssipäivä. :slight_smile:

Guest: Retail expert, Professor of Practice Arhi Kivilahti from the University of Turku. Host: Mikko Jylhä.

Tokmanni announced in January that it would start cooperation with the Spar grocery chain. Spar will become a visible part of Tokmanni’s food departments, and Tokmanni plans to significantly expand the sale of fresh products. A fourth grocery chain will be established in Finland.

This opening could have a very significant impact on Tokmanni’s business, but the Finnish grocery market is not about to be revolutionized overnight, Arhi Kivilahti emphasizes.

In Sweden, Axfood Group and especially its Willys chain have been very successful. Willys’ concept is between Prisma and Lidl, and there could be demand for it in Finland as well, Kivilahti estimates.

00:28 Introduction
06:51 Instacart
18:28 Amazon
28:43 Walmart
36:39 DoorDash
45:41 Delivery Hero
54:02 HelloFresh
1:04:44 Tesco
1:12:49 Axfood Group
1:18:39 Kesko
1:24:24 Tokmanni and Spar
1:31:03 Conclusion

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I’ll put a tweet in this thread about Europe’s largest retail company, Schartz, which includes Lidl, among others. :slight_smile:

Apparently, it’s still not going public. :thinking:

https://x.com/Quartr_App/status/1932104500153835532

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@henrielo has written about retail companies such as Kesko, Puuilo, and Tokmanni. :slight_smile:

Still, if one had to buy a stock from this group, it might be Tokmanni in a speculative sense. The extensive discount store principle brings daily cash flow to secure the back, even if some investments miss the mark a bit. The SPAR expansion is, in the best case, lower risk and more controllable than Sweden’s one-time boom in its discount retail sector a couple of years ago.

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Rauli has written about retail development in May, with comments from, of course, Kesko, Lindex, and Tokmanni. :slight_smile:

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Tokmanni Group, Kesko, Puuilo, Verkkokauppa.com, Wetteri, Kamux, and Lindex were in Arttu’s, Rauli’s, and Thomas’s outlook review. :sunglasses:

The beginning of the year for the retail companies we follow proceeded with varying results. Overall, the operating environments remained subdued in each operator’s target markets, although a clear pick-up was observed in the trend for those focused on specialty retail. Our expectations for growth in the latter half of the year are moderately modest at a high level, and we do not believe the market will act as a clear catalyst for companies’ revenue growth yet in 2025. Profitability development varies by company, but in absolute terms, the earnings level of the group of companies we follow should rise, supported by slight revenue growth.

Finland vs. Sweden - international match.

Trade | A department store war is brewing in Finland as Swedish firms storm the territory

S Group announces that H1 total sales grew by 0.6% from the previous year, with retail sales as the driving force, growing by 2.1% from last year. Retail sales also include Prisma’s non-food items.

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Here are Arttu’s comments on the retail sector’s goings-on in June. :slight_smile:

The target market of Kesko’s Grocery Trade, Tokmanni, and Lindex’s Stockmann division, i.e., the revenue of department store and hypermarket chains, increased by 1.5% in June.

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The title is a bit misleading, this article mainly talks about the retail sector’s performance. The article can be read in a couple of minutes and EDIT: previously there was no paywall, now there is.

Statistics show that July’s grocery sales figures were excellent year-on-year: sales of large supermarkets grew by 5.6 percent and hypermarkets by 5.4 percent.

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