Gratis opens a 205 sqm store at V Metroway AVM, how can a small store stay profitable?
A 205 sqm Gratis store is now open on level -1 of V Metroway AVM, and on opening day the chain offered discounts of up to 75% in selected product categories (Perakende Türkiye, 1 September 2026). According to the report, the opening drew strong interest from visitors. AVM is the Turkish term for a shopping mall.
Here’s what it means for you: even a large chain enters a mall with a 205 sqm unit and opens its first day with a promotion. In autumn 2026, cosmetics and personal care stand out among the fastest-growing categories in Turkish malls. For a small retailer, the question is how to make every square metre of a tight space work, and how to run an opening promotion within the rules.
What does Gratis’s V Metroway AVM store show a small retailer?
Three things: a modest floor area can be a deliberate choice, a mall’s lower level can draw traffic, and opening day is a marketing tool. The report gives no figures for Gratis’s total store count, the investment or staffing. So copy the way the store is set up, not its place in the chain. At 205 sqm, it is a size you can hold up against your own floor plan.
How do you measure floor productivity in a small store like Gratis’s 205 sqm unit?
Divide sales for the period by selling area; that is your sales per square metre. In a small store, add sales per metre of shelf and sales per SKU. Read the three numbers next to your till data and you see which shelf pays the rent and which product just sits there.
Floor productivity template: three formulas
Run these three calculations at the end of each month.
- Sales per square metre = monthly sales ÷ selling area (excluding stockroom).
- Shelf productivity = monthly sales from a shelf ÷ shelf length in metres.
- SKU productivity = an SKU’s monthly sales ÷ its share of shelf space.
How do you run an opening promotion like Gratis’s within the rules?
Put the scope, duration and discount rate in writing before you start. Gratis’s promotion was limited to opening day and to selected categories (Perakende Türkiye). In Türkiye, promotional and continuous discount sales are governed by the Regulation on Principles and Rules for Retail Trade, published in the Official Gazette on 6 August 2016. You can find it on the Turkish Ministry of Trade’s retail rules page.
Who does Gratis’s new V Metroway AVM store affect, and how?
BU BÖLÜMÜN ÖZETİ
- For neighbouring tenants: shared traffic
- For independent cosmetics shops: service, not price
- For brands considering a short-term space
It affects neighbouring tenants, independent cosmetics shops and cosmetics suppliers in different ways. Other tenants on the same floor may see extra foot traffic. Independent shops selling the same products may feel price pressure. For cosmetics brands and distributors, a new shelf point opens.
For neighbouring tenants: shared traffic
Someone who comes for the promotion also walks past the other shops on the floor. A neighbouring tenant can learn the opening calendar and put a small offer of their own on the same day.
For independent cosmetics shops: service, not price
Competing with a chain’s discount power on price is hard. An independent shop should stand out through advice, samples and fast ordering. Otherwise the till stays quiet and the rent stays the same every month.
For brands considering a short-term space
Brands that want to test demand before committing to a permanent store can also look at the short-term space model. We explain how it works in our piece on La Roche-Posay’s pop-up space.
How should a small cosmetics store like Gratis’s new unit handle its digital side?
Make the map listing, the promotion announcement and the stock information speak the same language. Before coming to the mall, a shopper searches “cosmetics store near me” and checks floor and opening hours on their phone. The same Capital report says discount periods have grown from 30-40 days a year a decade ago to about 100 days today. When promotions never stop, the digital announcement is how you manage price perception.
What should a small store owner learn from Gratis’s opening this week?
This week, run the three formulas on last month’s data, find your weakest shelf, and calculate the discount ceiling for your next promotion with the margin formula. None of this needs new investment. Your till data and a spreadsheet are enough. At the end you know which square metres pay the rent.
Monday checklist
Tick these off in order.
- Calculate sales per square metre using selling area, excluding the stockroom.
- Work out sales per metre for each shelf.
- Mark the shelf that falls below the store average.
- Find the promotion’s discount ceiling with gross margin − target contribution.
- Update floor, hours and promotion details on your map profile.
Quick Summary
- Gratis opened a 205 sqm store on level -1 of V Metroway AVM (Perakende Türkiye, 1 September 2026).
- On opening day only, selected categories carried discounts of up to 75% (Perakende Türkiye).
- In AYD’s April 2026 data, personal care and cosmetics was the fastest-growing mall category, up 55.5% in nominal terms (AYD).
- Promotional sales are governed by Türkiye’s Regulation on Principles and Rules for Retail Trade (Ministry of Trade).
- Productivity in a small store depends on reading floor, shelf and SKU figures together.
Short Glossary
- Sales per square metre
- Sales per square metre is the measure used to gauge floor productivity by dividing a store’s sales by its selling area.
- Promotional sale
- Promotional sale is the term used to describe a sale that offers a price advantage for a set period or product group.
- Average basket
- Average basket is the measure used to show spending per shopping trip, found by dividing total sales by the number of transactions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Next Step
If you want to build your store’s productivity table and promotion plan together, fill in the consult your expert form and we’ll get back to you.
Sources: Perakende Türkiye, 1 September 2026 · AYD, April 2026 · AYD data, via Perakende Türkiye · Capital (report date not confirmed) · Turkish Ministry of Trade, Principles and Rules for Retail Trade
Updated: October 2026
Sık Sorulan Sorular
It depends on what sits around you, so ask the leasing team before you sign. Which entrances, anchor stores or transport links feed that floor, and what kind of shopper passes through? Personal care is a category that slips easily into a quick-trip basket. When you choose a floor, weigh the rent difference against the type of daily traffic that floor gets.
In April 2026 data from AYD, Türkiye’s association of shopping mall investors, personal care and cosmetics was the fastest-growing mall category, with nominal sales up 55.5% (AYD, April 2026). In the first eight months of 2026, health and personal care sales rose 35%, against 30% for malls overall (AYD, via Perakende Türkiye). The demand is there, but demand alone doesn’t pay the rent.
In a Capital report whose date could not be confirmed on the page, a Watsons executive says personal care retail has about 2,000 stores and expects that number to reach 4,000-5,000 within five years. More stores means each one serves a smaller catchment. If you are choosing a growth model, read our piece on JYSK’s choice between direct investment and franchising.
Compare each shelf’s productivity with the store average. If a shelf stays below average for two months in a row, cut its space and grow a category that sits above average. Make this call from the table, not from gut feeling.
Squeezing too many SKUs into a small space. One unit of everything makes the shelf look full, but the customer can’t find their shade or size and walks out. Fewer SKUs with deeper stock protects the average basket in a small store.
A phrase like “up to 75%” tells the customer that not every product carries that discount. Which category gets which rate should be clear on the shelf label and in the announcement. Verify with the official source; this is not legal or financial advice.
Here is the formula: maximum discount rate = gross margin − the contribution margin you want to keep after the promotion. Run it only for the categories in the promotion. Putting a low-margin product on promotion fills the till but empties the profit.
Ask opening-day visitors for permission to contact them, and give them a reason to come back. Divide the number of customers who return for a second purchase by opening-day transactions. That ratio is the real result of the promotion; a busy opening on its own is not.
The mall name, the floor (for example, -1), unit number, opening hours and current photos. If you run a promotion, post it on the profile with start and end dates. A finished promotion left on the profile disappoints the customer at the till.
For the promotion week and the week before, put profile views, direction requests and till transactions side by side. If transactions rise but direction requests stay flat, the traffic came from the mall. If both rise together, your announcement is working.
When promotions fill the till but second visits don’t come. Then the problem is not the discount but how the promotion is built. We make opening and seasonal promotions measurable with retailers as part of our marketing consultancy work. We comment on retail news on our retail page.
Promotional sales in Türkiye are governed by the Regulation on Principles and Rules for Retail Trade. Check the current rules on the Ministry of Trade’s official page.
It can if your sales per square metre cover the rent and service charge. Do the calculation with your own till data and your selling area, excluding the stockroom.
Look at how many customers come back a second time, not at opening-day transactions. That ratio shows whether the promotion created lasting customers.