Willys to cut prices every month

Willys to cut prices every month

On Monday, Axfood will launch a major initiative at Willys that will cut prices
of name-brand products by a minimum of 5%. This was announced today by Axfood's
President and CEO, Anders Strålman, in connection with the release of Axfood's
first quarter interim report."These won't be temporary special offers, but a price cut that is entirely in
line with Willys goal of offering customers Sweden's 'cheapest bag of
groceries,'" said Strålman. 

Under the new low-price initiative, every month Willys will lower the price by
at least 5% for some 20 ordinary items from well-known name-brand producers. The
new, lower prices will apply at least one year from the date the reduction was
announced. Price cuts will be made every month during the rest of the year, with
a strong ambition to continue month after month for a long time into the future."Since it is Willys' sales success that has laid the foundation for these price
cuts, we hope to gain the continued confidence of our customers," says Patrick
Grabenbauer, Marketing Director at Willys. "Today we have pledged to introduce
price cuts during the rest of the year, and as long as we continue to be as
successful as we have to date, we will be able to continue lowering our prices.
Higher sales and greater volumes will make us a more attractive cooperation
partner for our suppliers, who in turn can offer us better wholesale prices. In
this way, our customers, suppliers and Willys all stand to win from Willys' new
lower prices."

The products that will affected by the price cuts consist of ordinary, everyday
items that customers recognise and frequently purchase, such as sausages,
cheese, cold cuts, beverages, shampoo, balsam, household cleaning products, and
so on. Initially, Willys' new low-price initiative will cover name-brand
products. However, the company has not ruled out the possibility later on of
extending the price reduction initiative to its private label products. 


For further information, please contact::
Patrick Grabenbauer, Marketing Director Willys, tel. +46-70-876 13 1
Ingmar Kroon, Press Manager, Axfood, tel.+46-70-289 89 83

Axfood AB conducts retail trade through the wholly owned store chains Hemköp,
Willys and Willys hemma, comprising slightly more than 220 stores, and wholesale
trade through Dagab and Axfood Närlivs. In addition, Axfood collaborates with a
number of proprietor-run stores that are tied to Axfood through agreements.
These include stores within the Hemköp chain as well as stores run under the
Handlar'n and Tempo profiles. In all, Axfood collaborates with over 500
proprietor-run stores. Axfood is listed on the Nordic Large Cap list of the OMX
Nordic Exchange. Axel Johnson AB is the principal owner, with approximately 46%
of the shares.