Brands, Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Good for Business, Markets and Companies, Retail

Both the central organization and its subsidiaries will be rebranded as Coop Eesti Keskuhistu (Coop Estonian Central Association), Coop Finants AS and Coop Jaekaubanduse AS (Coop Retail Trade), respectively. Most regional consumer associations also will adopt the new name. The associations' changeover to the new brand will take place gradually, Coop said.

CEO of Coop Eesti Keskuhistu Jaanus Vihandi said the change is a vigorous step towards the future that has been long in preparation. Adoption of the new name and logo enables the group to make internal activity more unified and along with refreshing its public image the association will more and more vigorously work on developing its store concepts, he added.

Vihandi estimated that the economic effect from the name change will amount to a couple of million euros every year. "We are now better understood in international communication and business. Membership in Euro Coop whose participants' aggregate annual turnover exceeds Estonia's state budget nearly 10 times strengthens Coop Estonia's position in negotiation with large international corporations and allows more and more direct procurements," he said adding that the association will be able to offer a better selection of goods and lower prices in the future.

There will be no changes in the ownership structure of Coop and giving preference to domestic goods and basing economic activity on Cooperation principles will continue to hold the top place in the group's strategy, Vihandi said.

Coop Estonia consists of a central association and 19 regional consumer associations which in turn have close to 83,000 customer-owners. It owns 355 stores most of which belong to the AjaO, Konsum, Maksimarket, E-Ehituskeskus and Tooriistamarket chains.

Sales turnover of Coop Estonia in the first three quarters of this year totaled 364.4 million euros and its market share was 20.7%. At the same time last year the market share was 20.3% and sales 346.1 million euros. The year-on-year sales growth was 18.3 million euros or 5.3%.