Magnit plans to open around ten franchised stores in Omsk

Around ten franchised Magnit stores are planned for Omsk, spanning the U Doma neighbourhood grocery format and the M.Kosmetik beauty and personal care format. The city is one of the key locations for the chain’s next wave of openings in Siberia. According to a report published by Novy Omsk on 16 October, agreements with partners have already been signed and premises are being prepared for opening.

What is planned for Omsk

Olesya Yermolenko, Magnit’s director of development and store openings in Siberia, outlined the expansion plans at a business event. The target for Omsk is around ten outlets. This is a planned number of openings, not a count of franchised stores already operating in the city.

The report names two formats: U Doma and M.Kosmetik. The Omsk expansion therefore extends beyond a single type of outlet. However, it does not specify how the planned stores will be divided between the formats. It should not be assumed that each will account for an equal number of stores or that all openings will take place at the same time.

For the local franchise community, the key development is the move from planning to preparations for specific openings. This is not simply an intention to recruit entrepreneurs: agreements with partners in Omsk have already been signed. That puts the announced expansion beyond an initial assessment of the city or a call for prospective franchisees.

However, signing an agreement and opening a store are separate milestones. For now, it is more accurate to describe the chain as preparing to open at new locations. The actual scale of its Omsk presence can only be assessed once the stores begin trading.

How far have preparations progressed?

According to information from Kommersant cited by Novy Omsk, agreements have been signed with partners not only in Omsk but also in Angarsk, Ulan-Ude and Novosibirsk. Refurbishment work is being completed and software installed at the premises as the stores prepare to open.

These details illustrate the work taking place ahead of openings under the current Siberian programme. Preparations cover both the retail premises and the technical systems needed to operate them. However, the report does not establish how close each individual Omsk site is to opening: it provides neither a list of addresses nor an opening schedule.

This is an important distinction for entrepreneurs monitoring new retail outlets in their area. The figure of ‘around ten’ describes the overall plan for the city, but does not confirm ten openings by a particular date. Nor does it reveal the number of partners: the number of stores should not automatically be equated with the number of franchisees.

The next confirmation that the plans are being delivered will therefore come from announcements that individual stores have begun trading. These will make it possible to distinguish the announced programme from actual results and see how the two selected formats are represented in Omsk.

Omsk’s place in Magnit’s Siberian programme

The Omsk plans form part of Magnit’s franchise expansion in Russia’s Siberian Federal District. The report identifies the city as one of the key locations for the next wave of openings. Preparations are also under way in several other Siberian cities where the chain has already reached agreements with partners.

The opening of a Magnit Mini store in central Novosibirsk provides context for this programme. The 136-square-metre store opened at 36 Oktyabrskaya Street. Its main relevance to the Omsk announcement is that it demonstrates that the franchise model’s development in Siberia has already moved beyond the planning stage.

However, it would be misleading to apply the Novosibirsk store’s specifications to Omsk. The Novosibirsk outlet uses the Magnit Mini format, whereas U Doma and M.Kosmetik have been announced for Omsk. The floor area of one operating store also says nothing about the size of the future Omsk outlets.

At the time of publication, Magnit had more than 30 franchised stores in operation. These were concentrated mainly in European Russia: in Krasnodar Krai, Moscow and St Petersburg. Preparations in Siberian cities are extending the geographical reach of its partner-operated stores, but do not yet provide a basis for calculating the total number of operating outlets once the programme is complete.

What prospective partners should consider

The Omsk plan gives entrepreneurs specific developments to monitor: two announced formats, around ten future outlets and agreements already signed. But this information is no substitute for the terms of an individual franchise agreement. The number of planned openings does not reveal the cost of joining the franchise, premises requirements or the expected payback period.

Prospective partners should separately establish which format is available for their chosen location, whether franchisee recruitment is continuing in the city and what obligations arise before opening. When discussing a timetable, it is useful to distinguish between signing the agreement, refurbishment, technical preparations and the actual start of trading. Each of these stages matters when planning an opening.

Practical takeaway: Magnit’s Omsk programme is already backed by signed agreements, but the roughly ten outlets remain planned openings. Any decision to participate requires the terms for the specific format and a confirmed opening schedule, rather than just an overall target for the city.