Shop&Go

Shop&Go is a Romanian convenience-store brand owned and operated by Mega Image, the supermarket chain controlled by Dutch-Belgian retail group Ahold Delhaize. The concept was launched on the Romanian market in 2010 as a small-format, proximity format aimed at shoppers who want to do their grocery shopping quickly and close to home. According to Mega Image's own description, the network has expanded steadily since the first store opened and now counts more than 500 Shop&Go outlets across the country. The brand sits alongside Mega Image's other store concepts, which include the larger Mega Image supermarkets, the premium Concept Stores, the Romanian-local-products line 'Gusturi romanesti' and the 'Mega Apetit' range. Shop&Go is positioned as the smallest and most accessible format in that portfolio: a neighbourhood convenience store rather than a full weekly-shop supermarket. Its assortment is built around everyday essentials, snacks, drinks and quick-purchase items suited to short, frequent visits. A distinctive feature of Shop&Go is its franchise-like entrepreneurship model. Mega Image offers interested entrepreneurs the chance to take over and operate a Shop&Go store, contributing its retail experience and supply chain while the operator runs the day-to-day business without the risks of starting a retail venture from scratch. Mega Image also invites property owners and intermediaries to propose spaces, buildings or land suitable for a Shop&Go store, directing them to its expansion contact address. Shop&Go therefore functions as a sub-brand of Mega Image rather than an independent company. Its identity, expansion and operations are tied to Mega Image's Romanian retail network, which in turn is part of Ahold Delhaize. The brand's growth reflects the broader expansion of convenience retail in Romania, where proximity formats have become an important complement to large supermarkets and hypermarkets.

Shop&Go was launched on the Romanian market in 2010 as a new convenience-store concept within Mega Image. Mega Image itself is a Romanian supermarket chain that became part of the Dutch-Belgian retail group Ahold Delhaize, and Shop&Go was created to serve a different shopping mission from the larger Mega Image supermarkets: quick, close-to-home purchases rather than a full weekly grocery shop. From the launch of the first store, the Shop&Go network expanded continuously. According to Mega Image's own description of the concept, the chain has grown to more than 500 stores in Romania. This growth placed Shop&Go alongside Mega Image's other formats, including the standard Mega Image supermarkets, the premium Concept Stores, the Romanian-local-products line 'Gusturi romanesti' and the 'Mega Apetit' range. A notable development in the brand's model is the entrepreneurship programme. Mega Image offers people who want to become entrepreneurs the opportunity to take over and operate a Shop&Go store. Under this arrangement, Mega Image provides its retail experience and infrastructure, while the interested person operates the store, avoiding the risks of starting a retail business from zero. Mega Image also runs an expansion channel through which owners of suitable properties — spaces, buildings or land — and intermediaries can propose locations for new Shop&Go stores by contacting its expansion address. Shop&Go has no separate corporate existence of its own; it is a brand and store concept of Mega Image, which in turn is part of Ahold Delhaize. Its history is therefore intertwined with Mega Image's expansion in Romania and with the wider growth of convenience retail in the country.

• 2010

  Shop&Go convenience-store concept launched on the Romanian market by Mega Image.

• Shop&Go network grows to more than 500 stores in Romania.

Small-format neighbourhood convenience stores for fast, close-to-home shopping, operated within Mega Image's Romanian retail network.

• Shop&Go convenience stores

  Small-format proximity stores for fast, close-to-home grocery shopping.

• Shop&Go entrepreneur/franchise model

  Mega Image allows entrepreneurs to take over and operate a Shop&Go store using its retail experience.

1. 1Shop&Go – Mega Imagemega-image.ro
2. 2Shop&Go – Wikidatawikidata.org