Wider circle: German Globus relaunches expansion plans in Russia
A large retail chain with German roots has decided to invest in business development in Russia, "Izvestia" has learned. It is one of the three foreign food companies remaining operating in the country. Globus has started looking for sites for the construction of new stores with an area of 16-20 thousand square meters within a radius of 300 km from Moscow, and also intends to open a hypermarket in 2027. At the same time, the retailer is testing a small "Globus Shop" format. The network has a financial resource for expansion: at the end of 2025, there were 12.6 billion rubles in accounts and short-term deposits, and the volume of borrowed funds has halved in two years. At the same time, active investments in the development of Russian business can reduce the risks of its transfer to temporary management, "Izvestia" interlocutors believe.
How does Globus intend to scale
The German Globus hypermarket chain has started looking for sites to build new stores within a 300-km radius of Moscow, its partner and a real estate consultant who worked with it told "Izvestia". According to them, we are talking about plots of 16-20 thousand square meters. Globus is indeed considering different options for opening locations, primarily in the metropolitan region, Victoria Kutuzova, head of the network's corporate communications department, confirmed to "Izvestia".
Globus was founded by German Franz Bruch in 1828. The chain's first store in Russia opened in 2006 in Shchelkovo, Moscow region. By the end of 2025, the country had 22 retail outlets in eight regions. Their total retail area, according to Infoline, amounted to 212.6 thousand square meters. m. The revenue of "Hyperglobus" LLC, which manages the Russian hypermarkets of the network, reached 165.6 billion rubles in 2025, an increase of 5% year-on-year. Net profit increased by 12%, to 7.4 billion rubles. The structure of the final owners of Globus has not been disclosed. According to ""SPARK-Interfax"", 99.61% of Hyperglobus LLC belongs to the German Alfa Handels und Marketing GmbH, another 0.39% belongs to Globus Grundstücksverwertung und Leasing Moskau Geschäftsführungs-GmbH. ""Hyperglobus" is "a legally and organizationally independent company," emphasized Victoria Kutuzova.
The chain is also considering scaling up the small "Globus Shop" format, a hybrid of a cafe and a ready—to-eat store, said a consultant in the retail real estate market familiar with the discussion. This was confirmed by Victoria Kutuzova. According to her, the company has started testing it in different locations and formats, and when the most successful model is found, the network will scale it. In particular, on September 28, she already opened a second "Shop" on Arbat, its area was 150 square meters. m.
Globus, along with the German Metro Cash & Carry network and the French "Auchan", has retained business in Russia after 2022, while a number of foreign companies, on the contrary, have curtailed their presence in the country. So, the Finnish SOK Retail Int. OY agreed in the summer of 2022 to sell 15 Prisma supermarkets to X5 retailer, and German Selgros closed the last store in May 2025. At the same time, "Auchan" continued to operate without funding from the French group and was considering the possibility of opening new outlets. Metro maintained a network of 91 shopping malls and relied on the development of B2B business.
"" On September 17, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree transferring almost 100% of the shares of "Auchan" LLC, the main Russian structure of the French retailer, to the temporary management of JSC "L.E.V. Management". And on September 28, Metro Cash & Carry was temporarily taken over by "UK Torg RUS". According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, "UK Torg RUS" was registered on September 8, 2026 in Moscow. Its sole owner is Tolai Johannes Maria, who also holds the position of CEO of "Metro Russia". The lack of specific development plans for these retailers could have influenced the decision to transfer their assets to temporary management, a top manager of a large retail chain admitted.
Why did the company think about development
Globus has expansion plans after the retailer repaid a "very large loan," the partner noted. Another "Izvestia" interlocutor attributed this to the company's accumulated reserve of liquidity. At the end of 2025, "Hyperglobus" had 3.7 billion rubles in its accounts, and the company held another 8.9 billion on short-term deposits with banks, according to an explanatory note to the financial statements. The volume of such investments increased by 78% over the year, and has more than doubled since 2023. At the same time, the total amount of borrowed funds of "Hyperglobus" at the end of 2025 amounted to 11.7 billion rubles, which is 34.6% less than a year earlier and twice as low as in 2023, the document says.
In the "Hyperglobus" reports, he also announced the start of design work on the construction of a new hypermarket in Zelenograd and allowed the resumption of investments in the store project in Nekrasovka with a change in the political situation. On September 22, Globus announced plans to open a new hypermarket in the Moscow region in 2027, investing more than 4 billion rubles in it. Its area will be 24,000 square meters, of which about a third will be occupied by a sales hall, the rest by a restaurant, production workshops and warehouse infrastructure.
Globus is one of the most sustainable models among hypermarkets, One Story partner Olga Sumishevskaya reminded. The network has the highest coverage in terms of the number of staff per retail area, said a top manager of a competitor company. The company's sales density for 2025 was 770.3 thousand rubles per 1 sq.m. m is 5.4% more than a year earlier, Infoline estimates. According to a source familiar with the retailer's commercial analytics, Globus' comparable sales (LFL) increased by 5.7% year-on—year in the first half of 2026, while the basket increased by 7.5%. This dynamic in the face of slowing consumer demand is already a sign of a healthy and stable operating model, said Vladislav Brilian, Senior Consultant at CMWP Retail Real Estate Department. Among other competitive advantages, she cites her own production, geographical concentration and financial stability.
The retailer's model differs from existing formats primarily by having full-fledged in-house production facilities within the walls of each outlet, explained Victoria Kutuzova. According to her, 400 to 600 employees work in one hypermarket of the chain. For comparison, the average size of the "Hyper Lenta" store employs about 130 people, the industry publication previously reported. Retail.ru its director is Ruslan Ardovsky.
By the end of 2026, retail trade turnover in Russia will increase from 0.8% to 4.6%, according to the forecast of the Ministry of Economic Development updated in September. At the same time, the growth rates will be lower in subsequent years: 2.6% in 2027, 2.8% in 2028 and 3.1% in 2029. Experts interviewed by "Izvestia" believe that further expansion will depend on the dynamics of consumer demand, the cost of construction and the ability of new stores to ensure the necessary profitability. Although the advantageous location of hypermarkets around Moscow will allow Globus to develop further, Olga Sumishevskaya clarified.
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