Mercadona

Mercadona has fired its benefits but has also closed stores for the first time in years. The reason: the “stores 8”

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For the first time in decades, Mercadona reduced its physical network while firing benefits 37% to 1,384 million euros. No other Spanish chain approaches that figure. The paradox has a name: “Stores 8”, a format that can double profitability but forces to close establishments incompatible with it. What is happening. The chain went from 1,681 stores in 2023 to 1,674 in 2024, closing 49 establishments compared to 42 openings. It is not crisis: it is strategy. “8” stores “need spaces of 1,500 square meters to be efficient, impossible in much smaller stores, why they will work decades ago. “We are a assembly chain and the less variability it has, the better it works,” said Juan Roig in the presentation of 2024 results, according to Valencia Plaza. A well -located store 8 absorbs customers from several nearby small stores, concentrating traffic at more profitable points. It is a calculated cannibalization. In figures: 1,431 stores already function as store 8 (85.5% of the total). 10,000 million invested in 7 years of transformation. 3.88% record marginup to foreign chains such as Walmart (2.88%) or Costco (2.95%). 419 million allocated in 2024 only to adapt stores to the new model. The context. “8” stores “are diaphanous spaces with large corridors, advanced technology and new sections such as” ready to eat. ” They reduce energy consumption by 40% and improve purchase experience, but demand specific locations with good accesses and parking. Roig admits to make “frequently unpopular decisions” closing stores due to “small size, access problems or lack of profitability.” The model prioritizes operational uniformity over territorial capillarity: better few perfect stores than many mediocre. Yes, but. Nor are they “perfect stores.” Roig himself says it And his own name says: they are called that because “to get to 10 they must still incorporate new elements and services demanded by customers.” Deepen. Mercadona is changing its commercial map by store. The objective is to complete the 100% transformation in 2026, sacrificing less efficient establishments to concentrate investment in Premium locations. Operational perfection has become its competitive advantage, even if that means leaving some neighborhoods without a merchant as hand as before. Outstanding image | Mercadona In Xataka | Juan Roig believes that cooking at home has no future. There are eight million Spaniards who are already giving the right

The magic number that puts Mercadona very much ahead of its competition and that has a hidden cost

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Mercadona has achieved something that seemed impossible in the saturated food distribution sector: A net margin of 3.88% in 2024. Well above not only Spanish or European rivals, but even world giants such as Costco (2.95%), Walmart (2.88%) or Tesco (2.87%). The figure, a trifle compared to other sectors, is stratospheric if we compare it with rivals such as Carrefour, with just 0.93%. Others, such as Dia, Casino or Auchan directly record losses. The supermarket business Historically operates with megic margins (1-2%) compensated for its high volume and cash flow. Mercadona, touching 4%, It is an anomaly. And he has achieved it mainly in the last five years, in which it has gone from 2.7% of 2019 to 3.88% of 2024. In addition, its net benefit has shot 37%, to 1,384 million euros. The 6 keys to unprecedented profitability “Total Efficiency” Model. The figures obey a polished strategy for decades. Juan Roig described the results of 2024 as “from ‘very good’ to ‘spectacular’” during his presentation at the central offices in Paterna. He attributed them to “the good progress of the economy, a great business model and brave decision making,” according to Castellón Plaza. One of Mercadona’s distinctive elements is its commitment to an “efficient assortment.” In other words: a short catalog. Other chains offer between 15,000 and 20,000 references, Mercadona has a rather lower number, prioritizing high -rotation products. It is one of the points that highlights the analysis of Food retaila strategy that “allows you to be more efficient, reach economies of scale and boost the quality of your own brand, all this while offering low prices.” That goes in the next point … Own brand domain. The weight of the distributor brand in Mercadona is overwhelming: its landowner brands, green or deliplus forest represent 58.2% of its sales, according to data from Actuality distribution About 2018. The chain then controlled approximately 44%of the total Spanish market of white brands, far ahead of competitors such as day (16%) or Lidl (11%). This strategy eliminates marketing costs and intermediaries associated with commercial brands. And allows you to set competitive prices without sacrificing margin. Mercadona has constantly invested in improving the quality of these products, developing them together with specialized suppliers to match or overcome the quality of leading brands. A unique relationship with suppliers. The Valencian chain has changed the distributor-professional relationship since the late nineties, when Roig promoted the “interproved” model. As it details INFORETAIL MAGAZINEMercadona “selected a manufacturer by category and granted long -term exclusivity to produce its brands”, working in “open book”: the chain knew the costs of the supplier and jointly set objectives of productivity improvement. Although this model has evolved since 2018 to a broader base of 1,400 “Totaler suppliers“, The philosophy of vertical integration and joint optimization remains. Mercadona negotiates block for all its stores, and that allows you to get conditions that other distributors do not get. The success of this symbiosis is such that, according to The economist“Mercadona suppliers are made of gold”, with growth of more than 10% in their sales during the last year. Logistics and automation. Mercadona operates one of the most sophisticated logistics networks in Europe, with 16 large highly automated blocks that supply their 1,674 supermarkets daily. In 2024, it allocated 276 million euros (26% of its total investment) to strengthen this infrastructure, according to Digital economy. The company has implemented advanced technologies such as the system Figa bridge picking (PPG) In its fresh warehouses, which speeds up the preparation of orders: it allows you to carry fresh products from the field to the store in 24 hours. Less losses and better perceived quality. This obsession with efficiency has raised productivity per employee at 313,545 euros per year, the highest in the sector. Almost null expense and marketing control. Unlike other chains with a lotHere is an example in this house) and not so much to announce products. Trust more on the mouth-a-or and the repetition of purchase. This savings in marketing, which for competitors can mean 1-2% of sales, is direct to the net margin. The company also maintains a relatively simple directive structure. In 2024, he even reduced his management committee to only six members, in front of the sixteen he came to have, according to reports Castellón Plaza. The six members of the Management Committee with Juan Roig in the presentation of results of exercise 2024. That committee came to have sixteen members. Image: Mercadona. No promotions or discounts. Mercadona has no loyalty program, points, coupons or specific discounts. Instead, opt for stable and competitive prices throughout the year. He no longer entrusts his motto ‘Always low prices‘which started at the end of the nineties, and in fact He has explicitly said that it is not his goal to be cheapbut the idea of ​​SPB remains in a certain way: fixed prices instead of specific offers. This saves you promotional marketing costs and constant price changes. In 2024 He reduced 2,000 pricesbut permanently and without this affecting its profitability, according to the company itself. In fact, its gross commercial margin remained stable at 24.7%, confirming that the increase in net profit (37%) compared to sales (9%) is mainly due to internal efficiency improvements, not to make products more expensive. Internationalization problems Mercadona has a 28% market share in Spain and is a baggy leader, but it is having difficulties when leaving other markets. In Portugal he has been for five years but “only” has sixty stores. Although the Portuguese is a market that has begun to give benefits (7 million euros in 2024), Roig has admitted that “it costs a lot” to grow there. As collected The avant -garde“after being forty years in Spain” it is not easy to adapt the model, and international expansion requires “generating managers in the country through internal promotion, which is a long process.” Mercadona has had to adapt its assortment to Portuguese taste and develop a local supplier network. According to Merca2although store sales in Portugal … Read more

While almost all Spain immersed in chaos, a place continued to function normally: Mercadona

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We are on Monday, April 28, 2025. Spain suffers the effects of a Mass blackout which has a good part of the country’s industry and commerce. All? No! A Valencian chain of irreducible supermarkets remains open and even speaks of “normality” in the middle of the chaos. His name: Mercadona. Under his label, the lack of supply that yesterday stopped the activity of other chains in the sector resulted in something different: Customer queues, Full carts and razed baldas. His They were not the only premises that followed at the foot of the canyon (Carrefour, Alcampo or El Corte Inglés had operational establishments), but it did stand out on a key front: neighborhood stores, closer to the citizen, which gave it considerable visibility. The big question is … How did he do it? Of blackouts and urgent purchases. If something demonstrated the pandemic, just five years ago, it is that the Spaniards do not like to play it. In exceptional situations, such as the announcement of an alarm or A mass blackout that leaves much of the peninsula without electricity for hours, we leave home, we go to the supermarket and We buy what is necessary To fill our fridge. Even in days like yesterday in which the fridge served rather. X is a barbarian mirror of that answer. A quick search shows tens of videos of saturated stores, long lines, empty shelves And people with loaded carts of water carafes. The funny thing is that all these videos are recorded in the same place: Mercadona. That the images have left some of their 1,600 establishments It is not surprising. Roig’s premises were operational and with supply while those of other firms in the sector They remained closed. “The bunkers would be landowned”. The situation was so curious and in a way he remembered the first days of the pandemic, that there were those who threw a sneer in networks. “Spain collapsed and Mercadona today running even with datáphones”, He joked in x Álvaro Wasabi. “If Fallout’s apocalypse was fulfilled, zero doubts that bunkers would be landowned.” “Mercadona when something extraordinary occurs and people believe they should buy toilet paper for 50 years,” Comments Nebreda Italohispano Next to an image of a pool crowded with people. “As with each catastrophe, the only one who has won with the #Cortedeluz is Mercadona,” Add in another tweet Eduardo Bernal. A unique case? No. Mercadona is perhaps the chain that has generated more expectation and comments in networks, but It is not the only that yesterday managed to keep operational at least part of his network of stores. The English Court was also able to open department stores thanks to the use of structure, as well as Alcampo or Carrefour, who served in hypermarkets and part of his supermarkets. Other chains did not run the same fate with wide implementation in Spain, such as Lidl, Eroski or Day, than They were forced To lower the blind at least its smallest stores. Precisely if something has made the networks look at Mercadona is that it managed to maintain local neighborhood operations, not only large hypermarkets located in polygons or the outskirts of the cities. But and that … why? In Xataka we have contacted Mercadona to know which equipment they have exactly in their stores and how they could keep them active in the mass blackout. Waiting for these clarifications, the company’s environment has already sliding Some clues. The key is in its generators, which at least in a good number of stores allowed to maintain the uploaded blinds, operational boxes and even make charges with dataphone, an impossible option in other businesses and that made yesterday The cash was imposed (very briefly) to payment with cards or mobile. “Today we open”. In the last hours the company assured to Expansion that all their places were “open” and functioning with “normality.” Moreover, while other stores were forced to close the doors waiting for the supply to be reactivated, the abnormality in the Mercadona premises was marked by a different reality: a customer “boom”. This morning the company A tweet uploaded With photos of his shelves answered and a message: “Today we open.” Adapting to the stage. One of the keys to Mercadona’s response, says one of his employees to Xataka, is his flexibility when adapting. The stores could work thanks to the existence of their own generators, but that does not mean that (at least in some cases) the operation was the “normal”: automatic tapes were dispensed with in the boxes and part of the merchandise took the cameras to avoid spoiling and saving energy consumption. “Under minimums tried to leave essential things,” he explains. “Everything works. What happens is that the consumption is minimized to serve the customer (…). The lights were more faint than usual to save also.” Refrigerators. “The refrigerators have been emptying them throughout the day to get into the refrigeration chamber or in the frozen and be able to turn them off and that only large cameras work, which is where more merchandise can be maintained in good condition,” details the same employee. “As that merchandise is removed, the refrigerators are turned off to save electricity.” At least in its store, he recounts, the company has consulted employees if they could enter a little earlier than usual to recover normality. Bathroom tails and prepared dishes. That Mercadona remained operational while other businesses were forced to close the door turned their premises, in a way, more than supermarkets. After visiting one of the stores in the center of Barcelona, ​​a reporter of The country He spoke yesterday In the afternoon of queues in the bathrooms and people eating dishes prepared in tables with stools. Images | Xataka In Xataka | The blackout in Spain has demonstrated which is the ideal means to inform in a crisis: the radio

Mercadona must compensate an employee for inadmissible dismissal

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Mercadona applies a strict work discipline to its employees. Sometimes, breach some of these strict labor policies derive in disciplinary dismissals. A sanction that the courts have already described as “excessive and disproportionate” On other occasions. The Superior Court of Justice of Madrid has declared inadmissible the dismissal of a Mercadona employee after being accused of consuming a beer in your rest time. Therefore, the supermarket must compensate the employee who, during her breakfast pause, ate a chicken sandwich accompanied by a beer. What happened? As reflected in The judgment issued For the TSJM, the farewell employee occupied the functions of manager to since 2001 in the section “Ready to eat”, with an annual salary of 28,006.21 euros and was fired on June 29, 2023 through a communication in which they claimed disciplinary causes. The key events date back to June 21, 2023, when the person responsible for her turn informed that the employee allegedly smelled of alcohol when she presented to work. However, the coordinator verified that there was no such smell, but that the worker used a colony and chewed gum, something that, everything is said, also prohibited the employees of Mercadona. This served him for the person responsible to point out this detail. On June 27 and during her break for breakfast, the employee bought “a cold beer and a chicken sandwich” and ate it inside her car inside the parking lot for the company’s employees. When he finished, he left his vehicle, he threw the containers to the paper and prepared to return to his position in the established deadlines. The coordinator witnessed the scene, picked up the paper packaging and required the presence of the employee in his office. There, the employee acknowledged having drunk An Mahou beer of 50 CL with alcohol during your breakfast pause, signing a document in which the event was recorded. That same day, she was sent home before finishing her workday. Disciplinary dismissal. In his allegation, Mercadona claimed that the behavior of the employee contravened the rules established in the Article 39.3 of your collective agreement On very serious offenses. In its epigraph specifies: “Go to work or work under obvious symptoms of alcohol or drug o Consumption in the workplace of narcotic substances, or when the behaviors acquire the status of usual and negatively affect the performance of their work, as well as, they constitute a serious risk to the integrity of the working person or other people of the company or alien to this. “ Among the sanctions provided for very serious offenses that are included in article 40 of that same collective agreement, it is established that employees incurring this type of faults face: suspension of employment and salary of sixteen days up to sixty days or The dismissal. Among all possible sanctions, they opted for the most expeditious: The disciplinary dismissal. The Judgment of the TSJM. In a first trial, Social Court No. 7 of Madrid determined that the worker’s behaviors did not justify the disciplinary dismissal. Judgment that Mercadona raised in a supplicatory to the TSJM that now ratifies it. As stated in the sentence, the supermarket did not present conclusive evidence that the employee had been under the influence of alcohol or that her behavior affects her work performance, which led to declare dismissal inadmissible. The Court based its sentence to which the measure adopted by Mercadona did not respect the principles of proportionality and good contractual faith. Disproportionate sanction. Mercadona argued that the worker had incurred a serious offense, adjusting to article 55 of the Workers Statutebut the judges concluded that the facts that were caused by dismissal were not serious enough as to justify a measure as extreme as dismissal. The Superior Court of Madrid recalled in his letter that the good faith must prevail both for the worker and for the employer, and that the analysis of any breach must consider not only the act in itself, but also the context and proportionality of the sanction. The Court stressed that the decision to say goodbye must be reasonable and proportional, considering the seriousness of the behavior, its context and the human factor. He also stressed that there were no signs of drunkenness in the worker or prove that her alcohol consumption in rest time affects the performance of her functions, even if she used potentially dangerous tools such as knives or machinery. Therefore, the resource filed by Mercadona was dismissed. Readmission or compensation. By declaring the inadmissibility of dismissal, Mercadona must now opt between two alternatives: readmit to the employee under the same working conditions prior to dismissal and pay the wages that he stopped receiving from the date of dismissal, or with the sum of 55,245.13 euros for compensation. Although Juan Roig’s supermarket chain has not spoken about the meaning of his decision, his decisions in previous sentences suggest that Mercadona will choose to pay compensation since he does not usually readmit to the dismissed employees. In Xataka | 40,000 euros for a croquette: Mercadona dismissed an employee for eating a croquette and must now compensate him Image | Unspash (Calitore), Wikimedia Commons (Daiima)

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