By KYIV. Jan 19 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The share of building materials in the assortment of the Epicenter network today is 8.3%, but during the period of large-scale recovery of the country after victory in the war, the figure could rise to 20%, Oleksandr Hereha, the co-founder of the Epicenter group of companies, said in an interview with Forbes Ukraine,.
“About 8.3% are building materials, 12% are finishing materials: wallpaper, paints and others. I think that after the victory, when the restoration of the country begins, the share of building materials can increase to 20%. Epicenter is not about construction. It’s about everything for a long time,” Hereha said.
According to the businessman, long-term plans include scaling the network to 500 locations in the next 20 years, as well as continuing the development of shop-in-shop concepts outside the Epicenter shopping centers, with an emphasis on Intersport, Deko galleries, and E.Pic children’s stores and a number of new formats.
“Our shop-in-shops are balanced, calculated and have a good assortment, and can work separately, but first we want to test their effectiveness as much as possible in the Epicenter, so that we can then launch them in other shopping centers. Yes, we can go beyond the Epicenter now, but definitely not at the same pace as it was in 2020-2021,” he said.
Regarding investments in Intersport Polska, Hereha announced his intention to merge Polish and Ukrainian companies and noted the prospects of the Polish market for sports.
“Now, we want to actually unite Intersport Poland and Intersport Ukraine into one whole. We will be able to accumulate a significant amount of commodity mass. We already purchase goods centrally for Poland and Ukraine. And now we are a completely different player for international Intersport,” the co-founder of Epicenter said.
In addition, the group of companies continues to develop the agricultural sector. Its share in the business will reach 35-50% after the implementation of the third stage of development, Hereha said. Epicenter is also working on a project in the filling station market, but the businessman did not disclose its details, promising to present it fully in the future.
