Kyiv’s first hypermarket of the French chain Auchan combines enormous size with low prices and a selection of rare goods
The world’s tenth largest retailer,France’s Auchan opened its first hypermarket in Ukraine near metro Petrivka and announced its plans to open 10 more throughout the country within the next two years. As of today, Auchan chain of hypermarkets is represented in 12 countries worldwide including Russia and China.
The country’s first Auchan is located on the former Ukrcable plant grounds, a hundred meters away from AltaCenter shopping mall. You cannot miss the robin redbreast logo on the center tower, and the store is enormous. Inside the store encompasses 15,000 sm stocked with 30,000 different items divided into suitable departments like food, children’s clothes, toys, literature, sport goods, bags, garden equipment, household devices, furniture and auto accessories. Up to 35 boutiques selling clothes, shoes, and other merchandise will open soon at the hypermarket.
Auchan has ample parking, for up 5,000 cars, probably a new city record and there is a petrol station on site.
For those who don’t come to the supermarket by car, there are free marshrutkas, running through Petrivka metro and to Troyeschina region and one running from Tarasa Shevchenka Square.
Auchan boasts 93 cashiers, but it turned out none of them has credit card terminals, accepting only cash payments. Hopefully the problem will be solved soon.
With company slogan “Blowout prices!” Auchan offers its customers quality goods at lower prices than its competitors. And it’s really true. Big shrimps, which supermarket Velyka Kyshenya, located just a few meters away, sells for Hr 92 per kilo, Auchan offers for Hr 39 per kilo. Ordinary shrimp, which most Kyiv supermarkets sell at Hr 25 to Hr 30 per kilo, only cost Hr 12 per kilo at Auchan. Such arithmetic carries over into other departments. For example, 0.5 liter yoghurt is from Hr 2,24, glazed cottage cheese from Hr 0.66 (an unheard of price for Kyiv), bananas are Hr 9 per kilo, seaweed salads from Hr 3 per 250 gr. In the department of tableware you can purchase cups from Hr 3,5. Shopping for women’s and men’s clothes you can choose women’s jackets from Hr 23, tights from Hr 5, male shirts from Hr 35. In the technics department, Veko fridges cost from Hr 1000.
What’s more, Auchan has a special staff member – a roller. A roller’s duty is to rush through the enormous hall and come to the rescue of customers. For instance, when barcode reader on cash line can’t scan a product or a customer, standing in the cash line decided to change a product at the last moment or forgot to weigh it, a roller will do that as quickly as possible. It’s likely to be only a temporary promotional feature, but still a very pleasant one. Due to the great number of cash lines there are no long queues. A cashier packs products, sorting them in the plastic bags, which at the moment are free of charge.
Auchan also has its own bakery. While choosing bread, you can watch the bakers at work, kneading dough, putting it in the oven, and taking out fresh loaves. Their selection includes croissants, baguettes, puffs, doughnuts, sweet pies, wheat and rye floured and bran bread, with raisin, nuts and more.
While the selection at Auchan is certainly impressive, often its high shelves running up to the ceiling are filled with a single product. You could come across a mountain of “Transformers” DVD’s, an army of multicolored plungers, or a row of the canned meat. A wall entirely made up of Becherovka appears captivating, but its price – Hr 70 – is the most enjoyable part. Speaking of DVD’s, which cost Hr 40 in Eurostar chain, at Auchan you pay only Hr 29.68.
Auchan also sells such surprising items as “Troynoy” and “Shipr” colognes, medicinal powder “Bodyaga,” shampoo “KryaKrya” and cream “Ballet” – the kind of things you’re most likely to encounter in the village shops nowadays.
Instead, some extremely popular brands, such as Chumak, Roshen, Try Medvedia, and products like glazed cottage from VimmBillDann, Galakton’s butter, Paulig coffee, and Haribo’s jelly bears are missing. Their absence is compensated by unusual foods, seabuckthorn’s jam, packed candyfloss, crampfish wings and Dr.Pepper!
The assortment of gastronomy department so far looks impressive, offering lots of meat and fish, five types of sushi, curd baked puddings but no salads.
Unfortunately it’s not very convenient for parents to bring their kids with them while they go shopping at Auchan because there is no children area with qualified baby sitters. But it maybe one of the options waiting to be introduced.
Auchan (15A Moskovskiy Prospekt, 8.30 a.m. – 10 p.m.)
