‘The first Auchan supermarket in Yekaterinburg will be located on the grounds of IKEA in Moskovskiy Rd. The opening will take place anywhere between October and December 2006, depending on the speed of construction,’ Sales Headquarters Director of Auchan chain stores Jeanne Pierre said.

‘We think we’ll set up one store for now and wait for the customer response. The company’s future strategy will be based on the turnover and profits of this particular store. We generally open 1 to 4 stores in Russia annually, although the particular projects depend on the availability of sites. Thus, only one point of sale was opened in 2005,’ M. Germaine said.