HUNGARY: Retail chains expand, small shops suffer | Progresiv
The Hungarian unit of French retailer Auchan projects a more than 10% increase in net turnover this year, CEO Dominique Ducoux said. Meanwhile, the retail sector is struggling with a heavy labor shortage, with small shops hit particularly hard. 
Auchan, which operates 19 hypermarkets in Hungary, has opened towards smaller-scale stores, having opened its first supermarket in Szekszárd last year and its first superstore in Budapest in April, the CEO said. The company plans to open four new stores this year, including supermarkets in Győr and Zalaegerszeg and another superstore in Sopron, he added, cited by national news agency MTI.
Including its 18 filling stations, Auchan Hungary had gross turnover of 363.5 billion forints (1.12 billion euros) between April 1, 2017, and March 31, 2018, up 3.7% from a year earlier. Net revenue rose 5.4% to 309.5 billion forints (955 million euros). After-tax profit increased almost 6% to 3.8 billion forints (11.7 million euros).
Auchan Hungary spent 10 billion forints (30.8 million euros on developments last year and plans to spend 10-12 billion forints (30.8 – 37 million euros) this year. The company employs almost 7,000 workers.
Meanwhile, the retail sector is struggling with a heavy labor shortage, with about 10,000 vendors missing from stores, current affairs portal hvg.hu reported. Shops are failing to attract more labor, despite significant salary raises. While in 2015 the average gross monthly wage of a shop worker was 148,000 forints (457 euros), this has risen to 217,000 forints (670 euros) in 2018.
The situation is even worse for small shops: while large companies pay a gross average salary of 248,000 forints (765 euros), small companies can barely pay 188,000 forints (580 euros). The difference is significant, which makes it harder for smaller shops to hire labor, hvg.hu reports. (www.bbj.hu)
