Bristol company. Chain of stores "Bristol": employee reviews, opening hours, assortment. Violations of labor laws

The alcohol distribution network is focused on selling high-quality alcohol and tobacco products. At Bristol, discounts and various promotions are offered to customers on a regular basis.

Company management

Who is the owner of the Bristol chain of stores? This question interests many potential employees. Network of alcohol markets "Bristol", owned by Igor Kesaev and Sergey Katsiev have firmly entered the segment of this market. They are included in the list of the richest people in the Russian Federation according to Forbes magazine. Igor Kesaev ranks 27th on this list, and the value of his assets is estimated at $3.7 billion. Sergey Katsiev ranks 64th in the magazine’s ranking with $1.45 billion.

Team

The Bristol wine store chain is focused on creating new jobs in the regions. Management states that it puts a lot of effort into making the workplace a second home for employees. According to numerous reviews from employees, the company has created comfortable working conditions.

Network specifics

The Bristol assortment includes tobacco and alcohol products. The company offers a wide selection of products at competitive prices and tries to prevent the sale of illegal alcohol on the market. Bristol products are of high quality, according to the management of this chain.

In 2012, the first Bristol store was opened in Nizhny Novgorod. Today, the chain of stores has about 2,100 retail outlets in 30 regions of Russia. The network is actively developing and expanding into new territories. The operating hours of "Bristol" in Moscow and the Moscow region are not 24 hours a day, so customers can purchase alcoholic products only from 8:00-23:00.

In order to form an objective opinion about this employer, you can study real employee reviews. Among the positive aspects, many workers note the payment of white wages. Some negative reviews report that staff are forced to deceive customers who come shopping while intoxicated. Employees talk about having to spend the working day on their feet. Some former employees of the retail chain claim that management violates labor laws. This is due to the fact that they cannot allocate free time for rest and

Among the positive aspects, employees highlight the presence of a social package. Career growth is also possible within this company. A Bristol salesperson is a rather nervous profession, since the work involves constant contact with different people. This vacancy requires high communication skills, as well as a high degree of stress resistance.

Negative reviews of work in this structure indicate that management hires acquaintances or relatives to fill available vacancies. Often such people do not have the appropriate education and work experience, which affects the store’s reputation. Feedback from employees reports that the shortage at the cash register “falls” on the shoulders of the sellers. If a mismatch is discovered during acceptance of the goods, the sellers are also responsible for this. Workers also have to perform cleaning duties. In this case, additional work is not paid or compensated.

Main disadvantages

Among the main shortcomings, employees highlight the lack of loaders in stores. Therefore, sellers and administrators have to unload boxes of goods themselves. Also, there are no security personnel in the stores who could resolve emergency situations that arise.

Employees warn that when joining this company they will have to work as a cleaner and a security guard. Many comments are full of negative information that the cost of stolen products from the store is deducted from wages.

Violations of labor laws

Job seekers need to be aware that the labor code prohibits requiring employees to perform work that was not specified in the employment agreement. Otherwise, such actions may be classified as forced labor. The employees claim that the employment contract and job description do not provide for the obligation to unload goods. This type of work must be paid by the employer in the agreed amount, therefore such a company violates the provisions of the labor code. All this is confirmed by numerous negative reviews from employees about Bristol.

Real state of affairs

Former employees report that such stores are visited by a special contingent of people, so you need to control yourself. Employees of this network are strictly prohibited from showing any rudeness or disrespectful attitude towards customers. However, it is very difficult to control your emotional state. This is especially true when communicating with intoxicated people who often visit such stores. Many people say that they sell not the highest quality products, so the prices for alcohol in this chain of stores are quite affordable and affordable for everyone.

Some employees report terrible treatment from administrators and HR. Workers also report that management constantly imposes fines and imposes various sanctions. Salespeople are prohibited from sitting during their work shift. Many negative comments are left to warn other people that when they are fired, employees are being blamed for the shortage. As a result, workers receive meager wages.

Main difficulties in work

Throughout the working day it is difficult to maintain a good mood and a positive attitude in Bristol stores. Feedback from employees notes that some customers try to vent their anger in cashiers' faces, shouting and insulting them, so former salespeople say it is a thankless job that is not valued or paid. However, some employees have managed to find a creative approach to performing their job duties, and have been successfully working as salespeople for many years.

It is not the highest paid and easiest, so potential employees need to make an informed decision before going for an interview at the Bristol store. Feedback from employees states that a salesperson is a profession that requires respect not only from the buyer, but also from management, which is not always the case.

Feedback from cashiers

Employees report that wages are paid on time, but the amount is always unpredictable. As the main advantage, many note the friendly atmosphere in the team, since employees show mutual assistance in various situations. However, employees note that this company has a cunning system for compensation of losses. As a result, the store employees themselves have to pay for the shortage.

Alcohol market employees receive a lot of memos every day, which contain information about which employee should pay what. Some of them openly talk about the fact that people are used as free labor in the Bristol chain of stores. Feedback from employees talks about widespread violation of labor laws and a lack of prospects for development.

Administrators' opinion

According to managers, working in this structure is quite comfortable. The main thing is to prove yourself from the first days of work, so that management notices ambition and determination. Hardworking employees will enjoy career growth and high wages. Some comments note that if employees complete assigned tasks, they can count on a decent bonus. However, other reviews report that the company rarely indexes wages. Among the positive aspects, many highlight stability and timely payment without delays, 2 times a month.

The Bristol network is represented in various regions, which is why there are such different reviews about the work. Also, a lot depends on the specific outlet and the employees who perform their job duties. Some reviews claim that employees only pay for shortfalls that were identified as a result of the audit. True, this does not happen so often, and thefts proven to the police are not subject to payment by store employees.

What is the ideal convenience store? It has everything that will warm you up in the evening, everything to greet guests with dignity or celebrate an important event. In such a store there will never be any doubt: too expensive or too cheap. An ideal store has a harmonious combination of price and quality, and the wide assortment surprises with its variety. “Bristol” is a chain of convenience stores that a resident of any city, district and street dreams of! It's simple: we know what you want and how much it costs. Our assortment includes a wide range of alcoholic and tobacco products, and you can also purchase essential products and vape products. We have developed a pre-order system for our customers. Now you can order any product, choose the store closest to you and pick up your purchase at a time convenient for you. Rules for placing an order.

Story

The history of the Bristol chain of stores began on September 17, 2012 in Nizhny Novgorod, and very soon with confident steps we began to open in the Nizhny Novgorod region: on October 28 in Balakhna. Realizing that we were welcome everywhere, on July 31, 2013, we opened our first store outside the Nizhny Novgorod region in the city of Saransk in the Republic of Mordovia. At the moment, our network includes over 2,500 stores in more than 520 cities in 30 regions of the Russian Federation. We continue to actively develop in the regions of our presence and are constantly discovering new territories, becoming “neighbors” for many Russians. If you want “Bristol” to become your store near your home, write letters with your wishes by email

Which retail chains open the most stores in Russia? Last year, Magnit took first place: 1,600 new stores of various formats appeared under its banner. In second place is X5 Retail Group: almost 950 Pyaterochka, Perekrestkov and Carousel stores. But the third and fourth positions are occupied by the Bristol and Krasnoe & Beloe chains. In 2014, they opened 850 and 715 stores respectively. The main product for both is alcohol

Krasnoe & Beloe chain store in Chelyabinsk

“Magnit”, X5, “Krasnoe & Beloe”, “Bristol” and the Fix Price chain (according to the calculations of RBC magazine, opened a little more than 630 stores last year) are the undisputed top five in the country in store openings, says the general director “ INFOLine-Analysts" Mikhail Burmistrov.

Win at the expense of others

Market conditions for “sellers of bad habits” have become tougher in recent years. Since 2006, the authorities have been tightening the screws in regulating the circulation of strong drinks (see inset at the end of the text), and in the summer of 2009, then-President Dmitry Medvedev launched a new anti-alcohol campaign. After this, the minimum retail price for vodka and other alcohol was introduced for the first time, the excise tax more than doubled (from 210 rubles per 1 liter of pure alcohol to 500 rubles in 2014), beer was equated to alcohol, places and times of permitted sale of such drinks are significantly limited. Following alcohol, officials turned to cigarettes: in 2013, the so-called anti-tobacco law was adopted, limiting the places where tobacco can be sold and smoked.

Have Russians started drinking and smoking less? Both official statistics and independent experts say yes. According to Rosstat, alcohol consumption in the country decreased from 9.7 liters per capita in 2007 to 8.5 liters in 2013. Cigarette consumption, according to the Russian Tabak media group, decreased by 13% from 2012 to 2014. However, the gray market has grown in parallel. The share of illegal tobacco products is still relatively small, but over the past year, according to British American Tobacco Russia, it increased from 1.6 to 2.7% of the market. But underground-illegal-surrogate alcohol products may now account for half of the entire market, believes Vadim Drobiz, director of the Center for Research of Federal and Regional Alcohol Markets (CIFRRA).

Why are two of the five most dynamic chains in Russia - Krasnoe & Beloe and Bristol - developing precisely through the sale of alcohol and tobacco? The answer is simple: they are trying to turn the tightening of legislation to their advantage.

The first Krasnoe & Beloe store opened in August 2006, when, as the chain’s founder Sergei Studennikov said, a “real alcohol crisis” broke out in the country. "Red & White" immediately declared itself as a company with a large assortment of alcoholic beverages, he recalled in his first interview, which he gave to the Chelyabinsk glossy magazine "Mission" in 2012 (hereinafter, links to the text of the interview from the Integrum media database) . “We were in the right place at the right time, the stars aligned, and a coincidence of circumstances helped us.” RBC magazine was unable to meet with Studennikov before this article went to the printer. However, the interview - the second for Studennikov - took place later; it will soon be available on the website.

The manager of the Bristol chain, Alexey Toporkov, also believes that the launch of his chain in 2012 successfully coincided with legislative initiatives: “We entered when it was most profitable for chains selling cigarettes to enter. Because the legislative framework was transparent for us, and the existing players had to give up some points or reformat.”

"Bristol" and "Red & White" stores in the same building in Omsk (Photo: Alexander Rumyantsev for RBC)

Chief of alcohol

“Are you working with Red & White?” - so now buyers of Magnit and other leading retailers are beginning negotiations with alcohol producers and distributors, according to Red & White suppliers. For many counterparties, this network is already one of the largest sales channels.

According to Igor Komarov, general director of the Aroma Trade House (producer and importer of alcohol), the holding sells more through Krasnoe & Beloe than through Magnit or X5. General Director of the Legend of Crimea group of companies (producer and importer of alcohol) Mikhail Shtyrlin says that their sales volumes through Krasnoe & Beloe are comparable to sales at Magnit or X5.

Bristol has not yet been a major buyer for suppliers, but they have been following with interest the network in which two members of the Forbes list invest - the “tobacco kings” of Russia Igor Kesaev (29th place with a fortune of $3.7 billion) and Sergey Katsiev (67th place and $1.45 billion).

“Bristol” and “Red & White” are small stores near the house with a sales area of ​​80-90 sq. m. m, where alcoholic drinks are arranged from floor to ceiling in five to six rows (approximately 800 product items).

“Bristol” is developed by the founders of the largest Russian tobacco distributor “Megapolis” Igor Kesaev and Sergey Katsiev. It is not surprising that, in addition to alcohol, the stores of this chain have a wide selection of cigarettes - about 200 items. At Red & White, like most grocery stores, there are 60-70 types of cigarettes. There are also “related” products: crackers, pickles, chocolate and other products (300-500 items in total).

The Krasnoe & Beloe chain includes more than 1,700 stores, Bristol - more than 1,200. Each operates in approximately 350 locations. These are the two largest chains of alcohol markets in Russia, and their competitors are several times behind: the players with the next largest number of outlets - Gorilka, Norman, Aromatny Mir - unite 250-350 stores each.

“I don’t think they did anything impossible,” says Mikhail Shtyrlin about the founders of Red & White and Bristol. “They simply believed that it was possible to create an alcohol chain comparable in the number of stores to the largest grocery chains.” The size of the chains is already comparable: Dixy, whose main owners are also Kesaev and Katsiev, has a little more than 2 thousand stores.

The financial indicators of Krasnoe & White and Bristol were not previously disclosed. As Sergei Studennikov said in an interview with RBC, the revenue of “Red & White” in 2014 was 55 billion rubles. (VAT included). According to Mikhail Burmistrov’s calculations, the network’s revenue without VAT could amount to about 47 billion rubles. This is several times more than that of Bristol, which opened the bulk of its stores last year: according to INFOLine-Analytics, its revenue in the first half of 2014 amounted to 6.5 billion rubles. (without VAT).

Who is Mr. Studennikov?

“Very demanding, but fair,” says a former administrator of one of the Krasnoe & Beloe stores about Sergei Studennikov. “Sometimes harsh and rude.”

According to Mission magazine, he started trading back in the 1980s: he stood in long lines for alcohol in order to then resell it. In the 1990s, he sold almost everything that came to hand: alcohol, groceries, building materials.

From wholesale, Studennikov moved to retail. In 1998, his wife and business partner Elena Soboleva opened a large store “Tile House” in Chelyabinsk (still open). In the mid-2000s, the entrepreneur opened Eurograd building materials supermarkets, participated in the launch of the Monetka chain in the Chelyabinsk region, and in 2006 opened the first Krasnoe & Beloe store.

In the fall of 2008, the Krasnoe & Beloe network included over 80 alcohol stores, a year later - about 150. Gradually, this project became Studennikov’s main business.

Founder of the Krasnoe & White chain Sergei Studennikov (left) and co-founders of the Bristol chain Sergei Katsiev (center) and Igor Kesaev (right)

Four employees of the network, in a conversation with a correspondent of RBC magazine, called him the owner of the company, without specifying the ownership structure. The operating companies of “Red & White” (there are several dozen of them) belong to Studennikov and his wife.

Some market participants doubt that Red & White would have been able to develop so quickly without external investors or patrons. They make a variety of assumptions - from local businessmen and officials to employees of federal law enforcement agencies. But it was not possible to find confirmation of any of them: there was not even indirect evidence of the formal presence of such people in the capital of the network.

There is another version: Studennikov has many envious people and ill-wishers, but he built a successful business model on his own. “Sergey Petrovich created a primitive and brutal concept that definitely hit his target audience,” says Alexander Shirekov, general director of the Classic pharmacy chain (he headed various grocery chains in Chelyabinsk). “It’s already clear from the name that these are shops for poor people who choose wine by color - red or white.”

"Pressed to the penny"

“Squeezed to the penny” - under this “harsh” slogan, “Red & White” used to conduct discount promotions. In fact, the chain operates in the discounter segment. “Our strategy is to work on low margins, on the verge of profitability,” said Sergei Studennikov in an interview with Mission. As he told RBC, the chain's gross margin is now 2-3% below the industry average, which he estimates at 26-27%. For comparison: the gross margin of Magnit at the end of 2014 was 28.9%, for X5 for ten months of 2014 it was 24.4%.

When the minimum retail price for vodka was 220 rubles. for 0.5 l, “Red & White” had one of the widest ranges of goods at this “first” price. So, on January 13, in the chain’s stores, judging by its catalog in the mobile application, there were 16 types of vodka for 220 rubles.

Many producers and sellers of alcohol have repeatedly complained that it is impossible to make money on the cheapest vodka: only excise tax and VAT on one half-liter legal bottle is 120 rubles. As a result, up to 90% of vodka costs 220 rubles. in Russian stores, according to Vadim Drobiz, it was produced without paying excise duty. True, large chains like Krasny & Bely are not involved with illegal products, the expert believes.

On February 1, a new minimum price came into effect - 185 rubles. “Red & White” was able to offer vodka at this price. For a number of items, the network maintains the lowest prices. How does she do this?

Having brought the network to a certain size - about 200 stores - the retailer began to allow itself purchasing interventions, says Alexander Shirekov: “They came to suppliers and said: we have 30 million rubles, we are ready to pay for the products, what will the price be?” This is an unusual tactic for the retail market: usually food chains try to get maximum payment deferrals from suppliers and thus actually take credit at the expense of suppliers.

“Legend of Crimea,” which has been cooperating with “Red & White” for many years, used to supply products there, including on an advance payment basis, confirms Mikhail Shtyrlin. So “Red & White” sometimes managed to receive products with a distributor’s markup of only 2-4%, Shirekov assures. One of the network’s former suppliers also heard that Krasnoe & Beloe worked on an advance payment basis, and considers such a low distributor’s markup quite realistic, although with other schemes this figure reaches 35%. Distributors still benefited from the low markup: they received a bonus from manufacturers for high sales volumes. Now all network suppliers surveyed by RBC magazine work with deferred payments, but these deferments, according to them, are less than those of most retailers.

Chips, socks, vodka

“Red & White,” according to suppliers, does not import alcohol, but independently imports products from brands unknown to us, for example, Jacker chips from Malaysia. They are similar in packaging and taste to Pringles, but cost half the price on the shelf. “In Russia and in most countries of the world, they only know Pringles and don’t know our brand at all,” complains export manager of Oriental Food Industries Reni Lowe. “We are very proud to ship our chips to Russia.”

To have low prices, Krasnoe & Beloe produces more than 30 types of goods under its own brands. For some regional manufacturers, the network has become the largest customer. Thus, the Chelyabinsk hosiery factory “Etalon” before working with “Red & White” was simply staying afloat, had large debts and delayed salaries, says leading sales manager Zemfira Vinogradova. Previously, the factory produced 30-40 thousand pairs of socks per month, today only to “Red & White” it supplies 60 thousand pairs of men’s socks every month - an exclusive model under the brand of the same name.

Traditionally, an important source of income for most food chains is marketing services to suppliers. In “Red & White”, the range of marketing services is minimal and there is no fee for entering the network, reveals another principle of the retailer’s work, Roman Akhmetov, Deputy General Director for Marketing of the Piteinoff Trade House (network supplier). “They only take products that sell,” he explains.

The chain uses advanced technologies in its work: for example, its commercial director Sergei Gorbunov went to the world’s largest retail company Walmart a couple of years ago, says Akhmetov. “When you enter the Krasnoe & Beloe store, it immediately becomes clear that the guys travel around the world, studying other people’s experiences,” agrees Alexey Toporkov. “They are not trying to do something by touch.”

Factories and alcohol markets

The latest Expert 400 rating of the largest Russian companies included only four enterprises with head offices in the Chelyabinsk region. Three of them are industrial giants Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, Chelyabinsk Pipe Rolling Plant and Chelyabinsk Electrometallurgical Plant, the fourth is Absolut, the wholesale company of Red & White.

There are now about 470 Krasnoe & Beloe stores in the Chelyabinsk region, and over 170 outlets in Chelyabinsk itself. This is more than the Pyaterochka and Magnit stores combined. “Red & White has already... monopolized us all,” the Ural-Press-Inform news agency quoted Anna Kozlova, head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service for the Chelyabinsk region, in mid-2013. According to the department, in 2012 the chain occupied the largest share in the grocery retail market in the region - 5.9%.

Since about 2010, under pressure from society and the authorities, as Sergei Studennikov admitted, he began to add food and non-food products to the assortment, and called the stores themselves not alcohol markets, but “convenience stores.” The most popular items were products for children. “It’s a matter of psychology,” the entrepreneur reasoned. “I, as a parent, maybe make amends to my child: I go to the store for a bottle of beer, and for the children I buy a toy that costs 2 times more than beer.”

There are already so many Krasnoe & Beloe stores in Chelyabinsk that they have begun to take customers away from each other (“cannibalization effect”), notes Alexander Shirekov. They often work in neighboring houses, but Alexey Toporkov has even seen shops in the same building.

“Bristol” is not going to Chelyabinsk yet, meanwhile the company’s manager goes there every two months to see what new competitors have come up with. Toporkov and the leaders of “Red & White” do not know each other, but Studennikov also visited the “Bristol” store, he mentioned in a telephone conversation with a correspondent of RBC magazine.

Founder of the Krasnoe & White network Sergei Studennikov (Photo: Ekaterina Kuzmina / RBC)

Shops instead of kiosks

The main competitor of “Red & White” - “Bristol” - appeared forcedly. The opening of pilot stores in Nizhny Novgorod in September 2012 practically coincided with the introduction of an “anti-tobacco” law to the State Duma. For Megapolis, which controls about 70% of tobacco distribution in Russia, the main problem after the implementation of the new law could be the restriction of places where cigarettes are sold. According to INFOLine-Analytics, the company sold about 35% of cigarettes through kiosks and pavilions. The bill stated that only stores with an area of ​​more than 50 square meters would be able to sell tobacco products in cities. m. And “Bristol” began to open with exactly this area.

The law was eventually adopted with a different wording (the sale of cigarettes was banned in non-stationary retail outlets), but for Megapolis this still meant a reduction in an important sales channel. “Undoubtedly, we knew that the legislation would become stricter, we prepared our project in advance, and partly the timing of its start and legislative initiatives coincided,” states Alexey Toporkov.

Megapolis shareholders began preparing the Bristol project back in 2010. In the business tandem Kesaev - Katsiev, Sergei Katsiev is more involved in Bristol, says Toporkov, who combines the positions of manager of the Bristol chain and head of the internal control department of the Megapolis group (Megapolis, with a turnover of almost $14 billion in 2013, is part of the Group of Companies " Mercury" by Kesaev and Katsiev). During the project, Katsiev flew to Nizhny Novgorod more than a dozen times, where the head office of the Bristol management company, Albion-2002, is located.

Kesaev and Katsiev are investing personal funds in the project; the amount of investment is not disclosed. Opening one store without taking into account rent can cost, according to INFOLine-Analytics, 1.5-2 million rubles. Thus, these costs alone for launching 1,200 stores could amount to 1.8-2.4 billion rubles.

The founders of Bristol immediately decided that they would build something big, says Toporkov: “The shareholders are such that they are not interested in local business.” At the beginning of 2013, when Bristol included only 10 stores in the Nizhny Novgorod region, businessmen did not like the pace of development of the chain and a decision was made to enter other regions, he recalls. In the summer of 2013, Bristol opened in 11 surrounding regions.

Unlike Red & White, Bristol does not have its own distribution center; distributors in each region deliver goods to stores. Thanks to this, the chain offers a wider range of locally produced goods familiar to residents. Megapolis, which distributes not only cigarettes, but also Baltika beer, Red Bull energy drinks, Dilmah tea, Milagro coffee and other products, is one of Bristol's key suppliers.

“Alcohol, tobacco and beer are a fairly structured business from a distribution point of view,” explains Alexey Toporkov. “Based on it, we can quickly and efficiently scale our business from Vladivostok to Kaliningrad, and then add other products to the line.” In the future, “Bristol” should become a full-fledged convenience store, where alcohol and cigarettes will not prevail, Toporkov assures.

A minority share - 1.2% - of Albion-2002 belongs to the Dixie South company, part of the public Dixie Group of Companies. Dixie has a priority right to enter the capital of Bristol if this network is successful, Dixie President Ilya Yakubson told RBC.

Means war

Despite the fact that “Red & White” and “Bristol” are very large chains, their “areas” almost do not overlap. Krasny & Bely has the bulk of its stores - more than a thousand - located in the Ural Federal District, while Bristol operates primarily in the Volga, Central and Northwestern districts. But in some regions the networks began to “butt heads” intentionally.

So, “Red & White” came to Nizhny Novgorod, the homeland of its competitor, in mid-2014. The Chelyabinsk chain has opened over 20 alcohol stores in the city, most of them, according to Alexey Toporkov, next to the Bristols. “Bristol”, having “jumped” over the Urals, went to Omsk, where “Red & White” is actively developing. “We decided to test ourselves there, in a highly competitive territory,” notes Toporkov. Krasny & Bely now has 84 stores in Omsk, and Bristol has 29. They are often located next to each other, and in five locations they are in the same building.

“At first we thought that Krasnoe & White would be a price killer for us: their prices are lower in a number of categories. That it is possible to close stores next to them, says Toporkov. “But no, nothing happens.” The top manager believes that one of the advantages of “Bristol” is its assortment, which is different from “Red & White”.

So far, small players are dying from the confrontation between the two leaders: for example, the chains of alcohol markets “Septima” and “Napoleon” recently left the Omsk market. There is already an overabundance of alcohol markets in Omsk and Chelyabinsk. “There shouldn’t be so many specialized alcohol retail stores in the city, this is absurd,” admits Toporkov. This does not prevent both retailers from continuing their active expansion. This year, “Bristol” is going to increase the number of stores to at least 2,000; the plan for “Red & White,” according to Studennikov, is 3,000.

The reduction in the minimum price for vodka and the economic crisis will play into the hands of alcohol markets operating in the economy segment, Vadim Drobiz is sure. “During a crisis, the consumption of cheap strong alcohol always increases: for people it is an antidepressant,” he concludes.

With the participation of Denis Puzyrev, Mikhail Rubin, Natalia Suvorova