OREANDA-NEWS. December 29, 2012. X5 Retail Group N.V. (“X5” or the “Company”), Russia's largest retailer in terms of sales (LSE ticker symbol: FIVE), announced today the opening of the Company’s first Karusel hypermarket in the city of Tambov. The new hypermarket will complement the 19 Pyaterochka soft discounter stores X5 operates in the Tambov region.

The new Karusel hypermarket is located at 27/211 Chicherina/Michurinskaya Street and has 3,825 square meters of selling space, 17 checkout points and is open from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.

X5 pays special attention to the Company’s assortment matrix in the regions where it operates to ensure that goods from local producers are included and makes adjustments on an ongoing basis, in order to reflect changes in consumer preferences. Currently, the Company has concluded several contracts with Tambov suppliers, including local bakeries, dairies, meat processing factories and produce farmers and the share of locally produced products in the assortment matrix are expected to increase in the mid-term.

Karusel hypermarkets are one-stop shopping destination for families and individual customers who prefer to find everything under one roof. The hypermarket assortment includes a wide range of products at affordable prices and varies from 20,000 to 30,000 items, depending on the store size. The assortment consists of 80% food products and 20% non-food products, including, household cleaning products, children’s goods, pet food and home appliances.

The average number of store employees is 160, while the average number of customer visits per day is 4,000 - 5,000 and may increase 1.5 - 2.0 times during holidays.