Pepco is a Polish variety store chain with stores across Europe. It is part of the London headquartered and Polish listed 'Pepco Group' alongside sister brands Poundland and Dealz.[3] Pepco stores account for most of the group's stores with 3500 branches across Europe (out of a total of 4600),[1] and has replaced Dealz (in format and brand) completely in most European countries, except for Poland and Ireland.[1][4]
History
In 1999 the British retailer Brown & Jackson expanded into Poland, where they opened Poundstretcher stores in the country.[5] Following poor performance, B&J Poland was sold to South African firm Tradegro in 2002 and was taken over by Pepkor in 2004. Following the takeover, the business and stores were rebranded to Pepco.[6]
From 2013 onwards, Pepco began to expand into other European markets:[7][8]
2013 – opened stores in the Czech Republic and Slovakia[9]
2015 – opened stores in Romania[10] and Hungary[11]
2017 – opened stores in Croatia, Slovenia and Lithuania[12]
2018 – opened stores in Latvia[13] and Estonia[14]
2022 – opened stores in Germany, Greece[18] and Ireland[19][20]
2023 – opened stores in Portugal,[21] Bosnia and Herzegovina,[22] and Azerbaijan[23]
In 2023, the majority (79%) shareholder of Pepco, Steinhoff International was delisted and restructured in a plan to avoid bankruptcy following years of lawsuits and heavy losses after holes in the company's accounts were exposed in December 2017.[24] Any bankruptsy was however not expected to harm Pepco given its strong balance sheet and independent sources of finance.[25] Following the restructure 2023 Steinhoff's shareholding was transferred to the new entity Ibex Topco B.V.[26]
In Poundland and Dealz
Since 2023 Poundland and Dealz stores have been phasing out their own brand and previous "Pep&Co" branded products and clothing, replacing them with Pepco branded ranges. This transition was seen as a potential cause for a dip in like-for-like sales at the group in 2024 [27][28]
In the United Kingdom, Pepco products are marketed as being "only at Poundland".[29]