With the acquisition of the supermarket group, Associating Grocers SA continued ANEDIK Kritikos, a move that will significantly strengthen the chain’s presence in Northern Greece and Crete, while at the same time approaching, if not exceeding, 500 million euros of turnover.

The actions of ANEDHK Kritikos also show something else: a trend seen since the beginning of the year, namely the acquisition of small local chains by the “big ones” in this sector, a trend that is expected to continue next year. a period leading slowly but surely to concentration. This was preceded, we recall, by the acquisition by Sklavenitis of the SEP Markets network in Ioannina and the agreement between Mashutis and SYNKA.

The chain, which was founded in Aegina in 1996 and has shown significant growth in recent years, yesterday officially announced the acquisition of the Associating Grocers SA group, through which the group’s 52 branded stores, as well as Hellenic Markets management, Proodos Markets brands, “Ilios Markets” and “Grigora”, related to coffee and grocery stores. In total, 300 small and medium-sized stores operate under these brands, while ANEDIK Kritikos currently has about 400 stores.

However, the foundation of ANEDIK Kritikos was laid much earlier than 1996. It was in 1948 that Andreas Kritikos opened his first shop in Aegina.

The supermarket chain will significantly increase its presence in Northern Greece and Crete.

In 1983, his children, Angelos, Nektarios and Dimitris Kritikos (from the initials of their names, after all, ANEDHK comes from) created the first large store, and in 1996 ANEDHK Kritikos was founded.

In 2000, the network expands beyond Aegina and expands to Argosaronikos with 5 new stores. In 2007, the first distribution center was opened in Magula, Attica. At the beginning of 2017, ANEDHK Kritikos’ equity stake in Uper Grigoriadis operating in the prefectures of Kastoria, Kozani, Florina and Grevena was the first step towards its growth in Northern Greece, thereby strengthening its presence in Western Macedonia with 35 additional stores .

In July 2017, he acquires a majority stake in the CRM-Ariadni network in Crete. The network has 92 affiliated members and operates on the basis of franchising agreements. In 2018, it acquired Merimna supermarkets in Attica, and in 2019 it strengthened its presence in Thessaloniki by acquiring the MAKO chain of 11 stores. Group sales in 2020 were €390.10 million and net profit after tax was €1.89 million.

Collaborating grocers’ sales in 2020 were €83.9 million.