Velenje, Slovenia: A retailer that Europe's real estate sector has watched consume vacant retail space market by market for over a decade has just added another flag to the map. Action, the Dutch non-food discounter, opened its first Slovenian store in Velenje on 18 September, marking the retailer's sixteenth market and continuing an expansion pace that shows little sign of slowing. A second Velenje-area store follows in Maribor within two weeks, and Bulgaria is next on the list later this autumn.
The Slovenian entry lands just months after Action opened its first stores in Croatia in March, where long queues formed outside on opening day, a pattern the chain has now repeated across most of its recent market launches. Action added 384 new stores in 2025 alone, ending the year with 3,302 stores across 14 countries, and plans to add at least 400 more in 2026 while entering both Croatia and Slovenia. By June 2026 the network had already grown to 3,423 stores across 15 countries, now 16 with Slovenia's addition.
What deserves close attention from landlords and retail investors is the scale of runway Action itself says remains. CEO Hajir Hajji stated earlier this year that, despite a slight slowdown in European growth, the retailer still sees room for approximately 4,650 additional stores across the continent, a figure that dwarfs its current footprint and signals sustained demand for retail units in secondary and tertiary locations well beyond the capital cities discounters have traditionally prioritised. Velenje itself, roughly 75 km northeast of Ljubljana, is a clear example of that strategy, entering a regional city rather than the capital first.
Action's financial momentum underpins the expansion. Net sales rose 14% to €8.3bn in the first half of 2026, with like-for-like sales growth of 3.6% and average weekly footfall climbing 12% year on year to 22.7 million customers. The retailer, majority owned by British investment company 3i Group, which holds a 65.4% equity interest as of March 2026, is simultaneously preparing new distribution centres in Italy, Spain and France to support the pipeline, alongside plans for a US debut in the southeastern United States in late 2027 or early 2028, targeting 100 stores there by the end of 2030.
For retail landlords across Central and Eastern Europe watching discounter demand, Action's continued market entries, backed by explicit runway guidance well into the thousands of additional stores, remain one of the clearer signals that non-food discount retail is still actively absorbing space even as parts of the wider retail sector remain cautious.
People mentioned
- Hajir Hajji, Chief Executive Officer, Action
Companies mentioned
- Action, Dutch non-food discounter opening its first Slovenian store
- 3i Group, majority shareholder of Action
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