R-kiosks will be thoroughly overhauled in the future. There will be Ärrä stores in the cities, R-kiosks will remain elsewhere, and the autumn will start CEO Niklas Lilius believes in the future.
It is still not clear where the new Ärrä stores will be opened and where the R kiosk will remain. KIMMO HAAPALA
CEO of R-kiosk Niklas Lilius was finally able to reveal on Wednesday of this week what has been worked on and planned for almost seven months regarding the future of R-kiosk.
Earlier this week, merchants and store managers of Finnish R-kiosks gathered at the Ärräpäivi held in Tampere.
– We had a big event. There was a playful section where you could get a real tattoo. One shopkeeper and his partner got a tattoo of the new Ärrä logo. I think they will be positive about the reform. So do many others, Lilius laughs on the phone.
R-kiosk has had financial challenges for many years, but now we are going to turn the tide.
According to Lilius, who was appointed CEO of Suomen R-kiosk eight months ago, the important message to Finland is that the Norwegian parent group Reitan Convenience strongly believes in Finland and wants to invest and contribute here.
– Stores like the new Ärrä are popular around the world, and they work perfectly in our own group as well. We have received a lot of feedback from R-kioski merchants that they want something similar. It gives us strong faith that the Finnish market is ready to accept something like this, says Lilius.
At the moment, according to Lilius, there are no concepts similar to Ärrä. According to Lilius, the chain’s first cafe, which will open at the end of the year, is something that has never existed before. The cafe offers drinks other than coffee, trending drinks emerging in the world will be seen in Finland as well. He doesn’t want to reveal more about the future.
Niklas Lilius, the CEO of R-kiosk, says that there will be something that has not been seen in Finland before. TIINA SOMERPURO
According to Lilius, the original R-kiosk has a lot of good things, and by no means will everything be changed. The selection is being updated, but hot dogs, for example, are in high demand in parts of Finland, so they will not be given up. Similarly, the breakfast will remain and it may possibly be duplicated in new Ärrä stores. Coffee is a very important selling point and it will remain so.
– Now we are focusing on Ärrä and in the fall on R-kiosk. We think about what we want to add and take away.
Lilius states that the current challenge is that the R-kioski has a smaller selection, but is more expensive than a grocery store.
According to Lilius, the food offering in Ärrä stores will be a little different from store ready meals or take aways. And Lilius does not see Ruokauppoki as a direct competitor.
– We want to offer something that is not yet on the Finnish market, is his answer to the question of what is coming.
On June 10, the first Ärrä store will open in Helsingin Sanomatalo. It is a pilot store where, during the summer and beyond, we test what customers are interested in. In August, we will probably be wiser about the needs of Finnish consumers.
Lilius says that in Finland’s R-kiosks, Ärrä stores and cafes, people are more focused on food. So far, the products come from well-known partners, but it is also not excluded that the chain might have its own kitchen or bakery at some point.
Lilius wants to emphasize that the new concept has been developed in close cooperation with R-kioski merchants.
He reflects that in the chain concept it is important to find a balance between the customer’s familiar shopping experience and the merchant’s entrepreneurship.
The selection of the current R-kiosk will be modified, but the familiar products will remain. Jussi Partanen
– We try to find a balance. The customer knows what to expect when he comes to us and the merchant can bring something new and local to it. It was wonderful to see traders at Ärrä days and talk with them, hear what they think. We want to make sure merchants succeed. Then we all succeed.
According to Lilius, simplicity, responsibility and speed are still important for R-kiosk. The customer wants easy.
– The world has changed. The fact that we don’t travel to the office like before has also affected us. In the past, there was more time to read the newspaper.
There are exceptions. For example, there is an R kiosk in Toijala with more than 30 seats.
– There is a great merchant there, everyone knows him. Customers want to be there and enjoy themselves. In every R-kiosk and Ärrä, we think about what its customers want.
Lilius does not yet have a ready list of where the new Ärri will be. He assures that he recognizes them as stores of the same chain.