The hypermarket chain “Gorgia” continues its active expansion but is encountering a significant shortage of large commercial spaces. Tornike Guruli, the executive director of “Gorgia,” explained to BM.GE that the current market offerings do not meet the specific requirements needed for the operation of large retail stores.
According to Guruli, the company is constantly looking for new locations, but the main challenge lies in finding spaces that meet their needs in terms of both size and layout. For a hypermarket, it is essential for the space to be on a single floor, which is rare in Georgia.
“We need large commercial spaces starting from 2,000 square meters. Currently, in Tbilisi and the regions, there are no 2,000 square meter spaces on one floor. If such spaces do exist, they are usually spread across multiple floors, which is not convenient for retail operations,” said Guruli.
He noted that the market predominantly offers smaller spaces, ranging from 150 to 500 square meters, which are insufficient for a company of “Gorgia’s” scale. Due to this shortage, the company has been exploring alternative solutions, often developing spaces independently, especially in regional areas.
“We are trying to find locations in the regions that we can develop ourselves. For example, in Telavi, we created a space from scratch. We are doing the same in Khashuri and Gori, where we can find vacant land. In such cases, we build standalone buildings either with our partners or independently. This is our way of solving the problem, as the market doesn’t offer one-floor commercial spaces of the necessary scale,” explained Guruli.
Moreover, Guruli pointed out that because there are very few suitable properties on the market, discussing prices is difficult. However, the company has a well-established partnership model, where the property owners share in the risks and rewards, taking a percentage of the revenue.
“We have several types of business models, one of which is a partnership with property owners. They become participants in our turnover and receive a share of the profits. This is a mutually beneficial model for both sides,” Guruli concluded.
