Żabka (convenience store)

Żabka Polska (Polish pronunciation: [ˈʐapka]; lit. "little frog") is a chain of convenience stores in Poland.[2] There are at least 9,000 manned and unmanned stores across Poland, including at least 500 in Warsaw and over 340 in the Tricity area, as of October 2023. Some Żabka stores are located in the Czech Republic, these are owned by the Czech branch of the UK retail giant Tesco plc.[3] The retail turnover was about €650 million in 2010.[4] As of 2022, Żabka has more than 15.5 million clients.[5]

Żabka Polska
TypeSp. z o.o.
IndustryRetail
Founded1998 (1998)
FoundersMariusz Świtalski
Headquarters
Poznań, Poland
Number of locations
9000
Area served
Poland, Czech Republic
Key people
Tomasz Suchański (President and CEO)
Revenuezl 3.36 billion (2012)[1]
−35,100,000 euro (2018) Edit this on Wikidata
Number of employees
1,425 (2018) Edit this on Wikidata
ParentCVC Capital Partners
Websitezabka.pl/pl
A Żabka store in Warsaw with the old logotype, February 2015.
A Żabka store in Tomaszów Mazowiecki with the current logotype, December 2019.

History
A Žabka Czechia store in Prague, Czech Republic

Żabka was founded by entrepreneur Mariusz Świtalski in 1998 and in the same year opened its first seven stores in Poznań and Swarzędz. By October 2005, Żabka had 1,700 stores throughout Poland. In 2007, Żabka was acquired by Penta Investments.[6]

In December 2010, Penta sold the Czech operations of Žabka and its Koruna subsidiary to UK retail giant Tesco plc.[7] The deal was closed in April 2011. In February 2011, Penta signed an agreement to sell the remaining Polish operations Żabka Polska, including the Freshmarket store format, to Mid Europa Partners.[3]

In 2016, Żabka underwent a rebranding. In February 2017, Mid Europa Partners closed a deal to sell Żabka for an undisclosed value (but estimated by analysts between €1 billion and €1.5 billion[8]) to the Luxembourg based CVC Capital Partners.[9]

Since 2018, after the long-expected Sunday trading ban in Poland was introduced,[10][11][12][13] Żabka Polska has increased its focus on self-checkouts and automated, unmanned stores, the latter using the Microsoft Azure cloud computing platform.[14]

In late-2022, Jaroslaw Kaczynski suggested that the Polish Law and Justice government might buy Żabka from CVC Capital Partners.[15][16]

Formats

In addition to its regular manned stores, Żabka also has smaller, unmanned stores called Żabka Nano (formerly Żappka,[17] also the name of Żabka's mobile app, introduced in 2020). The first Żabka Nano store was opened at the grounds of the Poznań International Fair in June 2021. Notable Żabka Nano stores include one located inside Poland's largest Decathlon store in Piaseczno, opened in December 2021,[18] and a pilot store located at the Tesla Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg in Germany, which operated during the third quarter of 2022.[19]

References
  1. "Żabka Polska Sp. z o. o. - Lista 500 - Polityka.pl". www.lista500.polityka.pl. Archived from the original on 20 December 2017. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  2. "Panattoni Park Wrocław II – final stage of development". Property Magazine International. October 4, 2012. Retrieved October 8, 2012.
  3. Martewicz, Maciej (February 25, 2011). "Mid Europa Buys Poland's Zabka Store Chain as Retail Market Consolidates". Bloomberg Business. Retrieved October 8, 2012.
  4. "Zabka Polska sp. z o.o.: Private Company Information - Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  5. "Lubisz Żabkę? Dowiedz się o nas więcej!". Żabka (in Polish). Retrieved 2022-09-30.
  6. "Zabka sold to Penta Investments - Retail market in CEE & CIS - PMR". www.ceeretail.com (in Polish). 14 July 2017. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  7. "Tesco to buy Polish Zabka chain -newspaper". Reuters. February 23, 2011. Retrieved October 8, 2012.
  8. "bne IntelliNews - CVC Capital Partners agrees to buy Zabka Polska". www.intellinews.com. 21 February 2017. Retrieved 2017-04-12.
  9. "CVC Capital Partners - Media Centre". www.cvc.com. Retrieved 2017-04-12.
  10. Gera, Vanessa (11 March 2018). "Most Stores Shut in Poland as Sunday Trade Ban Takes Effect". US News. Associated Press.
  11. "Stores shut across Poland as Sunday shopping ban takes effect". Global News.
  12. "Sunday trading ban comes into effect in Poland". 11 March 2018 – via rte.ie. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  13. "Stores closed as Poland phases out Sunday shopping". Polskie Radio dla Zagranicy.
  14. "Żabka - largest operator of autonomous stores in Europe - aims to overtake Amazon as world's biggest". 23 January 2023.
  15. "Poland close to buying PKP Energetyka from CVC Capital Partners -ruling party leader". Reuters. 12 October 2022.
  16. "Poland Eyes Grocery Chain as It Takes Back Control of Economy". Bloomberg. 13 October 2022.
  17. "Żabka Launches Cashierless Store Format, Żappka". 16 June 2021.
  18. "Żabka Nano otwarta w Decathlonie".
  19. "Tajna Żabka u Elona Muska. Pierwszy sklep tej sieci poza Polską". 11 August 2022.

Further reading


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