Polish discount retailer Dino Polska (WSE: DNP) plans to accelerate its physical expansion by opening 800 new stores across 2026 and 2027, launching approximately 400 outlets annually while allocating roughly 2.5 billion PLN in capital expenditures for 2026, as reported by WP Finanse.
Sieć Dino Polska, której początki związane są z ziemią gostyńską – jej założyciel Tomasz Biernacki pochodzi z Czeluścina (gmina Pępowo) – nie zwalnia tempa ekspansji, mimo że w danych widać wyraźne spowolnienie wzrostu sprzedaży w istniejących sklepach.
Company Aims to Add 800 Stores While Margins Face Deflationary Pressure
- Aggressive Footprint Growth: The company aims to add 800 stores across 2026 and 2027, maintaining a steady pace of roughly 400 openings per year backed by a 2.5 billion PLN capital expenditure budget for 2026.
- Deflationary Margin Pressures: Food basket deflation—peaking in September 2026—has compressed EBITDA margins by 0.5 percentage points year-over-year during the first three quarters, shifting corporate focus toward sales volumes rather than margin expansion.
- Surpassing Competitors: Tomasz Biernacki has built an enterprise that operates 3,283 markets encompassing 1.3 million square meters of sales space, surpassing German rival Lidl in total store count while challenging Jeronimo Martins’ Biedronka in smaller Polish towns.
Capital Expenditures Fund New Supermarkets and Logistics Infrastructure
During the first nine months of 2026, capital expenditures reached 1.85 billion PLN, representing an increase compared to the prior-year period, according to data cited by Gostyn24. Out of this total, the third quarter alone accounted for 868 million PLN in cash deployment. These funds are directed primarily toward constructing new supermarkets, expanding logistics infrastructure, and equipping stores with packaging collection devices.
By the conclusion of Q3 2026, the retail network expanded to 3,283 active markets across Poland. This footprint reflects the addition of 350 stores over a twelve-month window, including 256 new locations launched during the first nine months of 2026, with 108 of those openings occurring strictly in the third quarter. Nearly 20 Dino stores operate within the Gostyń county alone.
| Financial Metric (First 9 Months) | 2025 Period | 2026 Period | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Revenue | Baseline | 27.7 billion PLN | +11.9% |
| Total Active Stores | Baseline | 3,283 | +350 units |
| Sales Floor Area | Baseline | 1.3 million sq. m. | +12.2% |
| Capital Expenditures | Baseline | 1.85 billion PLN |
Revenue Grows Despite Headwinds from Food Basket Deflation
Despite top-line revenue climbing to 27.7 billion PLN through September 2026—a gain of 11.9% year-over-year—management notes that profitability metrics face headwinds from broader market pricing trends. Bankier.pl reported that food basket deflation within the network averaged during the third quarter, with the most pronounced price contractions occurring in September. October featured slightly lower deflation while remaining near the third-quarter average.
Fresh goods, including meat, cold cuts, and poultry, accounted for a large portion of total group sales in Q3 and across the first three quarters of 2026.
Michał Krauze, a member of the management board, explained during a corporate teleconference that surplus supply in fresh food categories drove down retail price levels, noting: Trudno doszukiwać się jednej przyczyny. W naszym przypadku największą deflacją charakteryzowały się produkty świeże, a pewnie w tym przypadku przyczyną jest nadpodaż tych produktów
and adding that Październik charakteryzował się trochę niższą deflacją, ale na poziomie średniej z III kwartału
.
Consequently, EBITDA margins contracted by 0.5 percentage points over the nine-month interval as pricing strategies prioritized transaction volume over immediate margin gains.
Competitive Positioning Against International Giants
Gazeta Prawna noted that Dino Polska successfully competes with Portuguese-owned Biedronka under the Jeronimo Martins umbrella while eclipsing German discounter Lidl in total store count. The chain also tests the use of self-service checkouts in its supermarkets.
Bloomberg estimated Biernacki’s net worth at 5.85 billion dollars (approximately 22.8 billion PLN), placing him among the 500 wealthiest individuals globally when he debuted on the list at 462nd place in 2023, before advancing to 452nd position in June 2025.
Beyond retail operations, Biernacki’s corporate footprint includes past and present supervisory roles or shareholdings in entities such as BT-Nieruchomości, KR Inżynieria, Dino Oil, Dino Północ, BT Holding, Mleczarnia Naramowice, and Krot Invest KR Inżynieria, illustrating a commercial reach extending far beyond grocery retail.
Dino Polska Employs 60,000 People to Support Store Expansion
By the end of September 2026, Dino Polska employed approximately 60,000 individuals across its store network, distribution hubs, and administrative offices.
Management maintains that its targeted annual store openings of around 400 for 2026 and 2027 will proceed without interruption, even as a deflationary environment tests retail operating margins heading into the holiday sales cycle.
