Estonia’s largest-ever merger of two retail chains begins

“Our goal is to combine the best aspects of two strong retail chains, preserve everything that people in Estonia value about Prisma, and in doing so take Estonian retail to an entirely new level. Through our stores, employees and customers, this change will affect more than two-thirds of Estonia’s population,” said Rainer Rohtla, Chairman of the Management Board of Coop Eesti Keskühistu.

Coop aims to make the integration process as smooth as possible for both Prisma employees and customers. For this reason, changes across the store network will be introduced gradually rather than overnight. “While Prisma’s owner changes today, operations in the stores will initially continue as usual,” Rohtla emphasised. The stores will continue operating under the Prisma name until each individual store transitions to the Coop brand and operating model.

Stores will join the network gradually

The first store to join the Coop network will be Roo Prisma, which will become Roo Coop Maksimarket during the night of 9–10 September. Other Prisma stores in Tallinn and Harju County will follow during September and October and will come under the management of Harju Consumer Cooperative. In total, Coop Harju will take over nine Prisma stores. In November, the Prisma stores in Rapla, Tartu and Narva will move under the management of different Coop cooperatives.

“We are proud of what we have built in Estonia together with Prisma’s employees, and we would like to sincerely thank our employees, customers and partners for the past 26 years. Coop, which operates on cooperative principles, has a strong reputation and is a highly regarded employer, and we consider the transaction now completed an excellent solution for employees, customers and the future of the stores alike,” said Ilkka Alarotu, who served as Chairman of the Management Board of Prisma Peremarket until the transaction took effect.

Although the Prisma stores will change their names over the next three months, everything customers have come to appreciate will remain after they join Coop: a wide product selection, familiar Nordic products, affordable prices and a pleasant shopping environment. “With Coop, the selection will also include even more Estonian products and weekly special offers. Customers will be able to use our convenient shopping app for a smoother shopping experience and earn bonus points or Coop Loto lottery tickets on their purchases,” Rainer Rohtla said.

One of Estonia’s most generous loyalty programmes expands

As Prisma stores join the Coop network, Coop discounts and loyalty programme benefits will become available in these stores. “Coop’s focus now is to make it as easy as possible for existing Prisma customers to join Coop’s loyalty programme and start enjoying its benefits,” Rainer Rohtla said. Customers can join conveniently through the Coop Estonia app or in-store with a Säästukaart loyalty card. All Coop Pank bank card holders are already automatically Coop customers.

“Coop has one of the most generous loyalty programmes among Estonian retail chains. With every purchase, our loyal customers receive more value, whether in the form of money, discounts or prizes,” the head of Coop Eesti Keskühistu emphasised. Last year alone, Coop customers earned a record €10.6 million in bonuses. This is in addition to a range of other benefits, from personalised offers in the app to birthday discounts and partner discounts.

Although Prisma Konto members can no longer earn bonuses from 1 September, they can continue using their ID cards to access the self-scanning service for as long as the store continues to operate under the Prisma name. From the beginning of September, customers paying with a Coop Pank debit card will also receive an additional benefit in Prisma stores. Customers with the Kasulik or Piirideta banking package will earn a 1% purchase bonus on purchases made at Prisma stores, paid directly into their bank account, just as they have previously earned it when shopping at Coop stores.

The detailed schedule for Prisma stores joining the Coop network will be published on 7 September on Coop’s website. Prisma Peremarket will continue operating until the final Prisma store joins Coop at the end of November. Until then, the company will continue managing the stores that have not yet joined the Coop network as usual.