Coop Adriatica takes up space in historic centers and buys eight small Plenty Market supermarkets in Bologna, San Lazzaro, Imola and Ferrara. This is what the agreement signed by the Consumer Cooperative with Albrea srl and Bodal srl, the companies that own the shops, provides. Five points of sale - reads a note - are located in Bologna, one in the nearby municipality of San Lazzaro, one in Imola and one in Ravenna.
All supermarkets will take on the InCoop banner by the end of 2011: the first takeover is expected at the end of August, the others will follow, probably about two weeks apart from each other. All after the go-ahead from the Antitrust expected by mid-next month. The eight Plenty's – underlines the press release – have an area between 245 and 500 square meters, for a total of approximately 2.400 square meters and a turnover which, when fully operational, is estimated to reach a total of 20 million euros.
Over 60 employed workers will be absorbed by the Cooperative. “The decision to take over these points of sale – says Adriano Turrini, president of Coop Adriatica – stems from the good results recorded so far by the current seven InCoops in Bologna: in a period of structural consumption crisis, the volume of sales in the first six months of 2011 of these stores recorded a 20% increase compared to the first six months of a year ago”. With the acquisition of Ravenna, InCoop also makes its debut in the historic center of the capital of Romagna.
“The agreement with Plenty Market – concludes the note – will now be examined by the Prefecture of Bologna, on the basis of the legality protocol signed on 10 June by Coop Adriatica with the representative of the Ministry of the Interior. The agreement, which is being applied for the first time, aims to prevent irregularities and attempts at criminal infiltration in the Cooperative's activities: if the Prefecture reports irregularities on a company or on a person with whom it maintains relations, it undertakes to interrupt any type of agreement or negotiation".
Coop Adriatica, with over 9 employees and a turnover of 2.035 million euros as at 31 December 2010, is the second cooperative in the Coop system. It has a network of 164 points of sale (18 hypercoops and 146 supermarkets) distributed in Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, Marche and Abruzzo, in addition to the newly acquired points of sale. The membership base has over 130 members, of which 230 loan members, for a total loan amount of 1.914 million euros. In Bologna and its province, the Cooperative has 44 points of sale (40 supermarkets and 4 hypercoops) and around 380 members.
