In 2018, when Michalis Bousis arrived in Crete to take over OFI, he visited a local supermarket and started rearranging the lettuce. Why? He did not like the way it was displayed on the shelf.The incident was recalled yesterday, Tuesday, by Christina Chalkiadaki, CEO of Chalkiadakis SA and a member of the ECR Hellas board, during a discussion with the Greek-American businessman, owner of the Cermak Fresh Market and Farmer's Best chains and president of OFI.
Eight years after that visit, and several decades after he began working at the family business’s grocery store in the US, which now has 20 locations, Michalis Bousis still takes a personal interest in product displays, weekly offers and even the music played in the aisles.
His attention to detail is part of a philosophy shaped by competition in the US market, dominated by giants such as Walmart, Target and Sam’s Club. Rather than taking them on across every product category, however, he has chosen to focus on areas where he believes he can differentiate: fresh produce, meat, cold cuts, cheese, bakery products and ready meals.
Unlike packaged goods, which can remain on shelves for months, fresh products require speed, constant replenishment, specialist staff and careful management of stock levels to keep losses down. For Bousis, however, that complexity is precisely what gives his chain an advantage.
This business approach has its roots in a 160-square-metre shop acquired by his father, who left his engineering career four decades ago. Weekly sales at the time were $45,000. After a butcher’s department was added, sales gradually rose to $200,000 a week.
Michalis Bousis joined the family business at the age of 12. “From an early age, I knew that I would either play football on Sundays or be involved in negotiations,” he said. He took one principle from those early years: “You have to give the customer what they want, not what you want to give them.”
That is why, before opening a store, he visits the neighbourhood himself at different times of day, observes the make-up of the population and tries to understand local consumer habits. “I see every new store as a blank canvas, like an artist,” he said in his discussion with Christina Chalkiadaki.
Why he prefers full shelves
Despite his focus on commercial efficiency, Michalis Bousis has not yet incorporated artificial intelligence into the running of his business. “I like the old way. Don’t be afraid to buy. Because if you have the product, you have the opportunity to sell it,” he said. “Empty shelves don’t sell products,” he stressed.
But making this kind of model work takes more than capital and full shelves. As he acknowledged, it requires people who know the market. According to Michalis Bousis, buyers at his chains earn between $200,000 and $300,000 a year, while store managers are paid between $100,000 and $150,000.
Department heads earn between $60,000 and $80,000, while even drivers can make as much as $100,000 a year.
On his approach to competition, he said: “I don’t care how much Chalkiadakis or Sklavenitis sells. I focus on my own business.” That does not mean, however, that he avoids a “war”.
“If someone wants to open a store across from me, they’d better be prepared to lose money. Because I’m willing to sell at a loss in that store for as long as necessary. That’s my philosophy,” he said.
Asked about relations between retailers and manufacturers, he challenged suppliers’ practice of trying to dictate the final selling price without adequately taking into account the retailer’s costs and investment. “We invest the money to develop a point of sale, a business, a customer base. The manufacturer needs to understand that.”
His position on profit margins was clear: “If I don’t get the right margin, I won’t sell your product. I’ll sell someone else’s.”
He was equally critical of complex promotions, bundled offers and marketing practices that, in his view, often complicate the purchasing decision rather than offer real value. “Give me the right price from the start and I’ll sell it at the right price. Don’t make life harder for the consumer. Make it easier.”
The discussion also returned to OFI, which he took over around this time eight years ago. For Bousis, football is more emotionally intense than business, but the two worlds share one basic rule: competition does not rule out cooperation.