⁍ Magnit reported strong sales growth at its convenience stores.

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⁍ Low prices and speed set to drive the country’s post-pandemic retail market.

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– Russia’s post-pandemic retail market is set to boom thanks to low prices and convenience, Reuters reports. The country’s largest food retailer, X5, opened a new brand of “hard discounter” called Chizhik on Thursday. “Shoppers coming to Chizhik, will understand that it has the most necessary range of items and at reasonable prices,” CEO Igor Shekhterman said at the store’s opening in north Moscow. X5 plans to open 45 Chizhik stores by the end of 2021 and plans to develop its own-label products in them. Rival retailer Magnit, which has previously expressed a preference for neighborhood convenience shops, reported a strong third-quarter on Thursday. At its convenience stores, third-quarter like-for-like sales increased 7.8% year on year, despite declining footfall, notably stronger than at its supermarkets, where LFL sales fell almost 2%.