The first Minimani store of the independent, family-owned company was opened in Seinäjoki back in 1986, and from there the chain has expanded its operations to Jyväskylä, Vaasa, Kokkola and Lempäälä. The newest hypermarket store will be completed in Rovaniemi in autumn 2020. Despite the tough competition in the retail business, the Minimani chain had its best-ever financial results in 2019 when sales grew to EUR 117 million.
In competing against the big chains, Minimani has had to chart its own course. It has invested in developing the customer experience, and, for example, instead of having its own product brands, it has focused on selling good, brand name products valued by customers at an affordable price. Minimani’s online store was launched in 2018, and it recently expanded to include also food sales.
Minimani has decisively used digital solutions in the development of its own business by, e.g., developing ordering and forecasting automation. In fact, the company was awarded Southern Ostrobothnia’s digital company of the year in 2018.
One of the prerequisites of the smooth growth has been the business-centric approach of legal matters. Lexia has assisted Minimani over the years in issues related to, among others, the transmission of payments, ICT projects, intellectual property rights protection, real-estate taxes and zoning, data protection, and labor law.
”Succeeding on a course of profitability and growth requires good partners like Lexia. Lexia’s experts have always given us business-centric, carefully considered solutions, and that’s why our collaboration has lasted for years. I can turn to Lexia with any legal matter, and I always get answers quickly,” says Minimani’s CEO Heikki Tynjälä.
