Investments in companies operating in various product categories such as household and health and wellness, acquisition of minority stakes in companies developing artificial intelligence applications in retail, and new services to improve after-sales service launched by the company. Public.

In fact, all MediaMarkt stores will operate under the Public brand by the end of the year following the group’s decision to keep only one brand. Mr. Robbie Burlas, Managing Director of Public Group, reveals the above in an interview with Kathimerini on Sunday.

He responds to rumors that the company is looking for a seller, and gives his own explanation for the unprofitable use, believing that in 2023 the turnover of Public will overcome the milestone of half a billion euros.

– We were very close, but finally in 2022 we closed with a turnover of about 485 million euros. The reason that the year ended below 500 million euros, a number that also has a symbolic meaning for us, is the delay in starting the implementation of the next stages of some device subsidy programs. In the last twelve months, our sales have exceeded 500 million euros. We recorded double-digit growth in the first quarter of 2023 and I estimate we will be well over €500 million in 2023.

“We paid an additional 2.5 million euros for energy and a total of 2.5 million euros for employee bonuses. On the other hand, we have taken many steps to become more efficient, which resulted in the removal of 5 million euros from our cost base. The goal, which also exists for the coming years, is to reduce our costs by 5 million euros per year. Our big expense, however, is rent, and all retailers are in the process of renegotiating leases.

We recorded double-digit growth in the first quarter and I estimate we will be well over 500 million euros in 2023.

– By the end of the year, all stores will operate under the Public brand, and all MediaMarkt people who have extensive experience in the field of household appliances will join Public. It makes no sense to remain in the market with two brands. So far, we’ve converted six MediaMarkts into next-generation Public megastores with a focus on home appliances, and the rest of the family will do the same.

– We do not invest and leave everything to chance. It is important for us that each investment acquires strategic value for the group. For example, iRepair launched the largest brand of refurbished devices in Greece (this is the second step). Together with Svuum, a courier company in which we have invested, we will launch 16 of our own appliance installation vans. With this new service, the device will be delivered, installed and demonstrated in one visit, and the old device will be removed for recycling. Another thing that we are planning with Douleutaras, which has already been tried in Cyprus, is that a transport truck should deliver the device and schedule a Douleutaras technician to come for installation. In Attica this will be done by our own team and Svuum, outside of Attica we plan to collaborate with Douleutaras. The partnership with Svuum has already been tested on three trucks and will be fully operational in September.

Another area we are very interested in investing in is the area of ​​AI (artificial intelligence). Therefore, we are looking for companies, Greek and foreign, that specialize in the application of artificial intelligence in retail, in order to invest in them, ideally through the acquisition of a minority stake.

We are also considering investing in companies that operate in different product categories than we do but are related to our own. For example, we are looking at a category related to home. Many customers also ask us for small household items, because we sell household appliances. We won’t do it organically. We are looking for companies that specialize in household goods and are also considering acquisition opportunities in this area. Companies with physical stores but also very strong in online sales. In addition to the home category, we are interested in the health and wellness category.

Precisely because we chose to grow organically, as well as through acquisitions, we founded Public Capital Partners, through which 30 million euros were invested in companies such as iRepair, Klarna, Svuum, etc. We are discussing with the board of directors to this fund invested another 20 million euros in the company.

Also in 2024, there will be an investment of 10 million euros to upgrade our technological infrastructure, as well as investments in large stores. At some point later, we will have to think about new warehouses. We have gone from 7000 sq.m. by 40,000 sq.m., but we already think that in three years 40,000 should become 100,000 sq.m. and we are already planning what our warehouses should be like in 2027-2028.

– Once we even discussed opening an outlet in Spata, within Designer Outlet Athens (formerly McArthurGlen Athens). We also looked at Smart Park. We are also looking at Trades Estates commercial park. This is an area where we would like to have a presence. The concept of Trade Estates commercial parks is interesting.

Double-digit growth in operating profit in 2023

– I’ll start with the last one. We were also surprised to read the publication about the sale of the company, and very quickly and decisively refuted it, since there is no truth in it. This is not part of our plans, in any case we are not interested in selling the company. The company is currently working on its new model. We want to develop a new model, we firmly believe in it. So we are not interested in it now.

As for the losses, I would like to point out that what you see in the financial statements contains two types of costs: firstly, the cost of leaving the property of 8,000 square meters. m; and move to a property of 2500 sq.m. which is a cash cost. But there are also many non-monetary costs. That is, if they wrote down depreciation and depreciation in store accounting, the jurors must correctly zero out the depreciation. And in 2021 and 2022, it was positive what we mainly look at, the organic profitability of the company, and not whether we will have to write off some accounting entries that MediaMarkt made several years ago, which, of course, are correctly reflected in the company’s balance sheets. . We look at the company’s operating margin. In 2021 it was 2 million euros, in 2022 it will be higher and in 2023 it will be double-digit positive. 2023 will be the last year that all these accounting entries and expenses will be recorded. In 2024, the balance sheet will show a much higher operating margin. The pandemic delayed the completion of the merger by almost two years.

– We can say that when the company is now more “domesticated”, it will be easier and more expensive to sell it …

We are not a private equity fund. Sunlight, for example, has been part of the Olympia group for about 40 years. It is not in our logic to sell our assets in a few years.

– Why did you close the shop in Chalandri?

“The buyer came to the store in Chalandri and demanded that we sell televisions there as well. We haven’t closed the store. In fact, we moved it to Marousi, creating a mega public in The Mall Athens. When a customer tells you “the store doesn’t meet my needs,” you must offer a solution.

– On the other hand, however, you closed the Agrinio store without any merger or transfer of the store.

– Firstly, we try to negotiate rent with the owners at every stage, especially after the expiration of the contracts. There are owners who listen to us, there are also owners who make very unreasonable demands and ask you to extend the lease at a much higher rent and indeed for 15 years. In Agrinio, we searched for a long time for a bigger shop to supply white household appliances, but we couldn’t keep paying what they asked for. In general, we invest in retail. The main shareholder is passionate about retail.