// Mere to open first UK store on next month
// The Russian discount chain plans to undercut Lidl and Aldi by up to 30%
// Food will be displayed on pallets in the store
Mere has officially revealed that the opening date for its first UK store is August 14.
The Russian discounter said the disruption from the Covid-19 pandemic had slowed work on the fitout for its store in Preston.
Mere plans to undercut German discounters Lidl and Aldi by up to 30 per cent, with a business model that sees suppliers delivering directly to stores and products displayed on the pallets they arrive on.
READ MORE: Russian discounter Mere to open over 300 UK stores
The retailer is known for offering no customer service in order to keep prices low, with a maximum eight staff per store.
“On August 14, we will be glad to present our new retail model: a real hard discounter, with no shelves, no service, no convenience, just the lowest prices,” Mere UK business development manager Aleksandr Chkalov said.
Some of the Preston store’s products and brands include React antibacterial wipes, Maxsonic batteries, Luxe and Cusheen toilet tissue, Goodwin’s instant noodles, Laser tinned mackerel and Warrior energy drinks, The Grocer reported.
The store will have a maximum of 1200 different products.
Chkalov said the store, which also has a walk-in chiller room, was still taking deliveries and it was too early to disclose further details of the range.
Otherwise, “all the preparation procedures are successfully done,” he said.
“We are now on the verge of creating a new retail segment in the UK market and we are sure it will become pricelessly useful for the country and society.”
Last month, Mere revealed plans to open over 300 stores in the UK within the next eight to 10 years.
Mere’s parent company Torgservis was founded in 2009 in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, by entrepreneur brothers Sergei and Andrei Schneider.
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