KOLO supermarket chain celebrates its seventh birthday: ₴500 million paid in taxes and 240 stores opened
The KOLO supermarket chain has been operating in Ukraine for seven years, providing millions of Ukrainians with the most necessary goods. Today, KOLO is a trendsetter in the convenience store format. The company is one of the leaders in the Ukrainian FMCG retail market, which is constantly improving, launching new formats, and changing for good.
As of the beginning of 2024, the KOLO chain has 240 stores in Kyiv and Odesa regions, and the company's team has 1,100 employees, professionals in their own right.
KOLO is a convenience store chain, with the largest one measuring 160 square meters and the smallest 28 square meters. Despite the format of compact convenience stores, the product range is great. It already includes more than 3,500 product items. Today, the KOLO team serves almost 60,000 guests daily. Over seven years, the chain's customers have made purchases 88 million times (the total number of receipts).
The KOLO chain is a conscientious taxpayer: over seven years of its operation, the company's stores have paid more than ₴500 million to the state budget.
The company also actively supports Ukrainian defenders. As of the end of 2023, the total amount of assistance reached ₴3.5 million. The team also sent a large number of food and non-food products to the front line for the Ukrainian military.
KOLO employees are actively joining the ranks of Ukrainian forces. Almost 25% of male employees are defending the country. Regardless, the company keeps their jobs and benefits.
The history of the KOLO convenience store chain started on February 7, 2017, the day the company was officially established when the state authorities legally registered Ariteil LLC. At that time, the company's team decided to actively develop a new format of convenience stores – convenient minimarkets designed to cover the basic needs of food and essential goods. Without exaggeration, the new chain began forming a new retail culture in Ukraine, where the time factor prevails over the price.
The first KOLO store was opened in Kyiv, and the chain was actively developing there for the first few months. On June 28, 2017, the first KOLO store opened in Brovary, the Kyiv region. A few years later, on June 26, 2020, the chain opened its first store in Odesa.
Efficiency and quality of logistics have always been the focus of the KOLO chain. In May 2019, the KOLO team launched its own distribution center and logistics service. After all, the company's task is to deliver high-quality and fresh products to the end customer.
Unfortunately, eight KOLO stores in the Kyiv region were destroyed by enemy shelling during the large-scale war in Ukraine. However, the chain quickly recovered and continues to prosper: over 20 new stores were opened in the last year alone.
Today, the chain is also actively developing its own brands, experimenting with formats, and launching numerous new partnerships.
For seven years of customer care, KOLO has received a number of ratings and nominations. It entered the top five largest retail chains in Ukraine, became the leader of the state's FMCG retail market in terms of development, and has been leading the ranking of the best retailers in the category "Convenience stores" for several years.
In 2024, KOLO plans to expand by opening new stores and entering more regions. The company's goal is to be the No. 1 convenience store chain in Ukraine, offering the opportunity to purchase essential products with the most convenience, efficiency, and safety. KOLO will also continue to develop the retail ecosystem: the chain plans to work more closely with Ukrainian manufacturers and suppliers.
The key priorities for this year are to improve operational efficiency and quality in view of changes in the supply chain, work with personnel, process security aspects of the network, and review the assortment and pricing policy, taking into account the financial and social vulnerability of Ukrainians. Its task is to meet the main needs of customers in the new reality. Despite the instability and challenges of retail in Ukraine, the chain is working to ensure that its guests can receive the basic service of buying groceries at home quickly and efficiently. For the chain's customers, KOLO stores are also points of invincibility, giving them the opportunity to buy the most necessary food and water next to their homes. Access to food is the main goal of the company. Customers need to ensure that KOLO stores are close by, with sufficient quality products.
