Fressnapf working on the future

The restructuring is being carried out from a position of strength because, unlike many other companies in the sector, Fressnapf can’t complain of a decline in sales. In the first eight months of this year, the pet store chain increased sales on a comparable store area in its domestic market, Germany, by around 4 per cent compared with last year. The increase in like-for-like sales in its foreign stores was 3.5 per cent. In total, including new store openings and online, Fressnapf is likely to grow by roughly 6.5 per cent this year. 24 new stores in the pipeline Fressnapf saw a particularly marked growth in sales in its XXL stores, of which there are currently 27. In Germany, where the company operates 17 XXL outlets, the growth in sales on a comparable store area was 10.8 per cent over last year. In its ten other XXL stores in France (9) and Luxembourg (1), growth was as high as 14.2 per cent. This year Fressnapf has increased its number of stores by 24 to 1 207 outlets as of the reference date of 31 August. A further 24 new store openings are still in the pipeline for this year. The company has been able to increase sales in all ten countries so far this year, with only Switzerland showing weaker growth due to currency fluctuations. At the end of October, Fressnapf opened its first store in a shopping centre in Poland’s capital, Warsaw, under the Maxi Zoo logo. The new Polish subsidiary is headed by Wojciech Kamin´ski, the long-standing manager of Tchibo. Growth offensive To remain on course for growth in the future, the company is currently undergoing restructuring. The list of measures to be taken is a long one: Responsibilities and areas of competence are being re­assigned between the company head office and the countries, and processes standardised in the “Teamwork” project. Purchasing, category manage­ment and private label are also being restructured in this move with the aim of consoli­dating the range across the countries and centralising purchasing in part. The countries will nevertheless retain sufficient autonomy to make adjustments at national level. Fressnapf is working in partnership with its suppliers to create uniform purchase prices across Europe. The creation of a pan-European supply chain is in full swing. The warehouse premises at the company’s headquarters in Krefeld are being increased to 45 000 m2 in area by the construction of an additional € 34 mio automated small parts warehouse. The company is investing heavily in further…