The King Store supermarket chain, which operates mainly in Arab society, is investing NIS 100 million in opening new branches throughout the country.
King Store, founded in 2010, operates 22 branches in Be’er Sheva, Rosh Ha’Ein, Kalanseva, Daliat El Carmel, Haifa, Acre, Karmiel and more. In addition to opening large branches, the chain has a neighborhood format within the cities.
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As part of King Store’s strategic plan, it is expected to open five branches in the coming year in the Gush Dan, Ramla, Netanya and Kfar Saba areas, and by 2030 ten additional branches are expected to open in total. In 2017, the Phoenix Group acquired 20% of the company’s shares.
The King Store chain employs approximately 1,100 people, and the chain’s CEO Majdi Kathani notes that “just as I believe in diversity at the level of products, I believe in diversity in employees. 70% of our employees are women, including the information systems manager, the operations manager and the finance manager. Two of our six VPs are Jewish, and we also have Muslim, Christian, Bedouin and Druze employees.”
Majdi Kathani, CEO of the King Store supermarket chain / Photo: Bakar Nasser
“The wave of price increases reached me last”
In the chain’s branches, well-known brands are sold alongside products from suppliers and small importers from the Arab society. According to Katani, the chain gives the customer a choice, something that has been emphasized in recent times in the shadow of the waves of price increases by the major suppliers.
According to him, “The epidemic of the level of prices in Israel compared to the world is due to the excess of concentration that exists in Israel. There are suppliers who control more than 50% of all retail chains, because they made a decision not to support the importer and the small manufacturer. We see it differently. For the future of the economy, we need Let the small supplier live, and give the customer the option to choose. In the long term, this will give an opening for the big suppliers to lower prices, so that when their products are displayed on the shelf, but not alone they will be forced to lower prices.
“That’s why the wave of price increases that swept the entire market reached me last – the suppliers realized that with me if they raise prices, they will be hurt because of the great variety in all categories. In the end, the shelf in all the chains is big enough, the question is how you divide it. I have stores of 7,000-5,000 square meters, and there are shops of 1,000-1,500 square meters.
“In our network you can buy authentic and unique products, some of which come from producers in the Arab society. For example – dairy products such as Labna, Labna balls, Labna with toppings, drinking yogurt and Arab cheese from ten different boutique dairies in the Arab society, special salads from different producers – local , national and international. The uniqueness of the products that reach the chain stems from the quality of the products and the variety of flavors. We make every effort to bring the buyers the highest quality and most affordable basket.”
The chain’s stores do not sell alcoholic beverages for religious reasons, and it does not sell tobacco products as part of healthy lifestyle education programs. “I don’t keep liquor by definition, but in addition we don’t keep cigarettes for a value-motivated reason. The chain is a business, but it’s also important for us to promote values in the company,” notes Katani. “Even though the decision is not a business one because the customer wants to buy his groceries under one roof, we made the decision, and we also stick to it in our neighborhood store format.”