Action opens store in Velenje, with Maribor and Nova Gorica next

Action opened its first Slovenian store on 18 September 2026 at the Velenjka shopping centre in Velenje. According to Svet24, the next store will open in Maribor on 1 October, while the company has announced Nova Gorica as its third location. For the franchise community considering the Slovenian market, this marks the arrival of a new retail competitor, not a confirmed franchise opportunity: the report provided does not mention any scope for franchise partnerships.

First Slovenian store opens at Velenjka

According to Svet24, a long queue had already formed outside Slovenia’s first Action store before it opened on Friday morning. The opening at Velenjka marks the international retail chain’s entry into Slovenia, which has become the sixteenth country in its network. The retailer primarily sells non-food goods.

At the opening, Svet24 spoke to chief executive Hajir Hajji, who began her career with the company working in a store. The interview covered the company’s entry into Slovenia, prices, employees and new locations, as well as its experience with bureaucracy and use of artificial intelligence. The specific details in the available summary mainly concern the company’s size and the first steps in its Slovenian expansion.

The queue before opening describes activity on the first day, rather than providing evidence of long-term demand. The report gives no visitor numbers, sales results for the Velenje store or average transaction values. Initial interest therefore does not yet establish how successful any individual location will be or how quickly the company will attract customers in Slovenia.

Maribor has an opening date; Nova Gorica has been announced

The next confirmed step in the published plan is Maribor, where Action is scheduled to open on 1 October. The company has announced Nova Gorica as its third Slovenian location, but the material provided gives no opening date. The distinction between a location with a published opening date and an announced location matters when tracking the network’s actual progress.

On entering Slovenia, Action did not disclose how large a network it intends to build. The first store and the next two cities are therefore known, but neither the eventual number of branches nor the full expansion timetable has been made public. The announcements for Maribor and Nova Gorica should not be presented as a complete list of future stores.

For local retailers and franchise partners, the most useful approach is to keep these stages distinct: Velenje is already trading, Maribor has an announced opening date, and Nova Gorica is the next announced location. When assessing changes in their own trading areas, businesses should rely on these concrete milestones rather than assumptions about further cities or store numbers.

International scale does not reveal Slovenian performance

According to Hajir Hajji, as quoted by Svet24, Action’s network comprises 3,511 stores and employs more than 85,000 people. The company generated €16 billion in revenue last year and opened 384 new stores in 2025 alone. These figures illustrate the scale of the international business now operating in Slovenia.

It is important to keep these figures in context. Employee numbers and revenue relate to the company as a whole, not its Slovenian operations. Likewise, the 384 openings are a record of expansion in 2025, not a forecast for Slovenia. The report provided gives no Slovenian revenue target, planned local headcount or expected market share.

The interview also addressed price differences between countries. However, the available material contains no comparison of specific products and their Slovenian prices with prices elsewhere. It therefore provides no basis for claiming that the Slovenian range is generally cheaper or more expensive than the range in other markets, or for making a reliable comparison with local retailers.

What the news means for the franchise community

Action’s arrival matters to the franchise community because it changes the retail offering in the cities where it opens stores. However, expansion by a retail chain must be distinguished from expansion through franchise partners. The published material does not describe the ownership model of individual stores, franchise terms, initial investment requirements or the process for bringing partners on board. Action’s arrival therefore cannot be presented as a new franchise opportunity.

Entrepreneurs should monitor the actual ranges available in the stores that have opened, alongside further official location announcements. Only a concrete comparison of products, prices and local availability can help establish whether the businesses’ offerings overlap. The size of the international network alone does not indicate what impact it will have on an individual Slovenian shop.

Practical takeaway: factor the operating store in Velenje and the announced Maribor opening into business planning, and watch for an opening date for Nova Gorica. Treat any interest in a partnership separately: the source presented does not confirm a franchise offering.