Retail: Rewe invests in rebrand

German retailer Rewe is planning a E40 million rebrand for all 2,600 of its supermarkets. This will bring the company’s outlets under one banner and will involve updating shop fascias, logos, shelving and price tags.

 The only exception to this homogenising approach is Rewe’s underperforming Toon hypermarket format, which will be keeping its existing fascia.

The retail giant hopes that the investment in the brand and associated modernisation will help improve its image in Germany and Western Europe, as well as financial performance. It announced an increase in turnover of just 1.5% to E29.9 billion in
its domestic market for 2005, although total group turnover was up 2.2% to E41.7bn with international growth of 4.9%
to E11.1bn.

Rewe is spending E1bn expanding its store base in Central and Eastern Europe, in particular Russia, where it sees significant potential for food retail per capita growth.

© db August 2006