Żabka: weaker market conditions leave 20,000-store target unchanged

Żabka Group is maintaining its long-term target of almost 20,000 stores in Poland, although its management points to more cautious consumer spending on food. Its plan for 2026 still envisages more than 1,300 openings across Poland and Romania combined. For the franchise community, however, sales at existing stores matter just as much as the pace of network expansion.

Almost 20,000 stores is a target, not a current total

As reported by Polish retail news website dlahandlu.pl on 29 October, Tomasz Blicharski, who is responsible for Żabka Group’s strategy and development and has been named as its future chief executive, confirmed the long-term direction of expansion. The chain currently has around 13,000 stores in Poland. In his assessment, this leaves scope for almost 7,000 additional locations.

This is an important distinction: almost 20,000 stores is not a forecast for the end of 2026. It is a long-term target, separate from the current opening programme. Nor should the potential for additional locations be confused with the number of stores already lined up to open.

The target applies to Poland alone. The group’s stated annual pace of expansion, by contrast, covers two countries: Poland and Romania. For anyone considering joining Żabka’s franchise network, this difference in geographical scope matters. The group’s combined plan is not a target for new Polish stores alone.

Sales are rising, but consumers are more cautious

In the third quarter of 2026, Żabka Group’s sales to end customers totalled PLN 9.6 billion, up 12.3% year on year. Meanwhile, like-for-like (LfL) sales growth stood at 3.5%, below the rate recorded in the previous quarter.

These figures describe different aspects of the business. Total sales growth reflects the change in the scale of the group’s business, while LfL tracks sales across a comparable base of stores. Double-digit growth in overall sales should therefore not be read as an equivalent increase in turnover at every existing store.

Management says consumers are being more cautious with their grocery spending. Sales growth in this segment remains weaker than across retail as a whole. It is against this backdrop that the company is maintaining its expansion plans rather than announcing a slowdown in openings.

The figures do not indicate a fall in like-for-like sales: growth of 3.5% is still positive. They do, however, show a slower rate of growth than in the previous quarter. Any assessment of current trading should take both points into account: sales on a comparable basis are still growing, but that growth has slowed.

More than 1,300 openings across two countries

At the end of September 2026, the group’s network comprised 13,405 stores in Poland and Romania. It opened 365 stores in the third quarter alone. The unchanged full-year plan calls for more than 1,300 new stores across the two markets combined.

The group also plans to maintain a pace of more than 1,300 openings a year over the medium term, again across Poland and Romania combined. Its stated expansion ambitions therefore extend beyond a single year’s programme.

Over the past 12 months, gross store openings totalled 1,410. Of these, 1,224 were in Poland and 186 in Romania. Poland therefore accounted for the clear majority of new locations during this period, although the group is also expanding its presence in the second market.

Gross openings are not the same as net growth in the store network. Similarly, figures for the past 12 months do not cover the same period as January to September. Keeping these distinctions in mind allows plans and results to be compared without mixing different measures or time frames.

What these plans mean for franchisees

For the franchise community, the key message is that expansion remains on course despite more cautious shopping behaviour. Żabka still sees room for growth in Poland, while also reporting slower like-for-like sales growth. These messages are not contradictory: one concerns the size of the network, the other the pace of sales growth across a comparable store base.

Neither is a forecast of an individual franchisee’s performance. Neither the target of almost 20,000 stores nor the group’s overall sales growth can, on its own, indicate the future turnover or profitability of a particular location. When discussing a new store, these figures should be a starting point for questions, not a substitute for assessing the specific offer.

Practical takeaway: before committing to a franchise agreement, ask for the sales and cost assumptions for the proposed location and discuss any planned openings nearby. An ambitious expansion programme should be assessed separately from the financial viability of your own store.