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Mon, 18 Jul, 2016 12:03:12 AM FTimes Report, Jul 18  FTimes Photo. The Valintatalo Pekantori grocery in Korkalovaara, Rovaniemi was converted to K-Market on July 14.
The conversion was carried out as per an acquisition deal between Kesko and Suomen Lähikauppa Oy concluded in April.
“Although the name of the shop Valintatalo has been changed to K-Market , all the previous staff remained unchanged and working usually,” a staff of the market Jamila Siira told Finland Times.
The next grocery to undergo a similar transformation is the Siwa grocery in Saarenkylä which will also become a K-Market outlet on July 28.
Earlier, the Valintatalo in Ounasvaara has been converted to K-Market in June.
“The ongoing [reform] is the most comprehensive construction of convenience stores. This is a historic transformation on the street scenery,” Kesko Executive Vice President Jorma Rauhala, who is also the senior vice president for Kesko’s grocery trade told media.
The variety of products and the appearance of the stores will also undergo transformation in the wake of the change.
Instead of PIN cards used previously in the stores, K-Plussa cards will now be used.
Suomen Lähikauppa Oy relinquished its ownership of the convenience stores Siwa and Valintatalo to Kesko following heavy losses.
Customers were forced to abandon the expensive shops for cheaper stores. Now, for instance, Siwa outlets will become K-Markets whose prices, according to one customer, are clearly cheaper than Siwa.
The company’s goal is to transfer the modified Siwa and Valintatalo stores into K-Market franchise over the next two years. At the same time, Kesko intends to reform the entire K-Market chain.
The Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (FCCA) gave conditional approval to the Kesko acquisition. FCCA, however, has imposed a condition that Kesko sells 60 of the Siwa and Valintatalo stores to its competitors.
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| Thursday, 25 April, 2024 |
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