A new budget supermarket is set to open stores in the UK, rivalling the household favourites.
There are regular competitions between supermarkets where Lidl and Aldi battle it out to be deemed the cheapest.
However that could now be spun on its head in the near future after a Russian supermarket has plans to open up shop around the UK, with a goal to open 300 in the next 10 years.
Mere was founded as Svetofor in Siberia in 2009, then began operating under the name of Mere in Europe in 2018. It has already opened four stores in Preston, Castleford, Mold and Caldicot, BirminghamLive reports.
And according to the Grocer, plans to step up store openings in the country are beginning to take shape.
Speaking to The Grocer earlier this month, Mere’s head of UK buying Pavels Antonovs claimed the supermarket would be 30 per cent cheaper than rivals.
He said: “We are the gap in the market. We don’t have any competitors.
"Our model is no service and no marketing."
The Russian chain is said to already have 3,200 stores around the world including Germany, Poland, Romania, Lithuania, Latvia and Ukraine, with plans to enter Italy, Spain, Greece, Bulgaria and the US.
Mere compares itself to Costco, but with no membership fee and no in-store service.
Each UK store will reportedly be about 10,000 square feet and have just eight workers.
The supermarkets are also said to include a walk-in chiller room and freezer, and items are typically sold directly from the pallets they're delivered on.
The supermarket buys stock from suppliers on a "sale or return basis", which means it'll return any unsold goods to the seller.
