The Crowns of Trade, prize awarded annually to the key businesses and individuals of Polish trade.
The Crowns of Trade, prize awarded annually to the key businesses and individuals of Polish trade by Handel biweekly, went this year to Artur Kawa and Piotr Laskowski of Lublin-based trading organisation, Emperia Holding S.A. The award of not one but two Crowns in a single category is a mark of appreciation to the Chairmen of Eldorado S.A. and BOS S.A. for merging the two companies into Emperia Holding S.A. in May 2007. The merger is said to have changed the picture of the Polish trading sector.
The Crown of Trade is a prestigious prize awarded for as many as 11 years now by Handel biweekly to businesses and individuals who—as the regulations of the competition state—"affect the face of trade, both locally and nationally, by implementing attractive new solutions". The Crowns are awarded to companies in the Trade and Industry categories, and to individuals who leave their special mark on the Polish trading business, as part of the Outliers category. The candidates to that third category are nominated by members of the competition committee which comprises prominent representatives of the sector, trading businesses, market research centres and Handel editors.
“We are very glad to have been awarded the prize, as it proves that our market environment appreciates that we have achieved a merger of significance for the Polish trade,” said Artur Kawa, Chairman of Management Board, Emperia Holding S.A. “BOS’s contribution to Emperia Holding S.A. was the expertise in market consolidation and a M&A development strategy. On the other hand, Eldorado has always been very careful to grow its business in a controlled way, with a strong support of well-developed IT systems. Now we are combining our expertise and skills to be able to continue to grow together. We share one important trait with Piotr Laskowski, we are both rational, and we approach similarly the way the FMCG market is developing, what our weaknesses and strengths are. I think that this is what helped us to take a very good decision, and best proven by the current development of Emperia,” added Kawa.
Information about Emperia Holding S.A.:
Emperia Holding is ranked seventh among the largest trading businesses in Poland, 44th on the Rzeczpospolita daily 500 List, and 39th on Polityka’s Five Hundred list for 2006. The company is based in Lublin.
The operations of Emperia Holding S.A. fall into two business lines: retail and wholesale. The Holding boasts a workforce of over 10,000.
The retail business comprises the following chains:
Stokrotka – 100 supermarkets, including 3 Stokrotka Premium deli supermarkets;
Groszek – 524 retail franchises;
Lewiatan Podlasie – 141 retail outlets, including 135 retail franchises;
Jaskółka i Milea – 36 partner retail outlets;
Społem Tychy – 36 partner retail outlets;
Centrum – 13 retail outlets;
Maro-Markety – 18 retail outlets, operating under the name of Lewiatan Podlasie;
Euro Sklep – 258 retail franchises.
The wholesale business comprises 9 subsidiaries (Eldorado, BOS, DLS, Sygel-Jool, DEF, Express Podlaski, Sydo, Alpaga-Xema, and an importing and exporting arm, Arsenal). In aggregate, these companies operate 68 distribution branches, including 58 cash&carry locations, offering the total area of some 232,000 sq. m.
Emperia Holding has been consistently pursuing the consolidation of the retail and wholesale FMCG market in Poland. Following the 2006 takeover of the BOS Group (56 branches and 81 outlets in Eastern and North-Western Poland), in July 2007 it incorporated Społem Tychy (36 retail outlets in the Śląskie Region), and in September the Centrum subsidiaries (13 retail outlets in the Warmińsko-Mazuskie Region of Poland) and Maro-Markety (18 retail outlets located in the Wielkopolskie and Opolskie Regions of Poland). In June 2007, the decision was made to acquire 100 percent of the wholesale subsidiaries of Sydo in Wrocław and Alpaga Xema in Poznań. October saw the incorporation of Euro Sklep S.A. of Bielsko Biała. The company has set its sights on further acquisitions, and talks are well under way with partners seeking to join Emperia Holding.