1994 — 1998
Sergey Galitskiy founds Tander, a wholesale distributor of cosmetics and household cleaning products;
The wholesale business expands rapidly and becomes one of the Top 10 Russian distributors of cosmetics, household cleaning products and perfumery goods;
The Company enters the food retail market as a Cash&Carry operator.
1998 — 2001
The “Magnit” brand appears (an acronym of the phrase "Магазин Низких Тарифов“ — “Magazin Nizkikh Tarifov”, a low-tariff store), and the chain starts developing under the new brand;
The Company sets up its motor transport enterprise — Selta;
The first private label range is launched;
Magnit switches to the discounter model;
The first 160 stores are opened, allowing Magnit to become one of the largest Russian retailers in terms of the size of store chain.
2002 — 2005
The first distribution center is opened in Kropotkin city, Krasnodar region;
All stores are revamped as convenience stores, which still remains the key format for Magnit today;
The store chain grows rapidly, with 1.5 thousand stores by the end of 2005;
Magnit dissolves its business in wholesale of cosmetics and household cleaning products and fully focuses on its retail operations;
2006 — 2009
The Company completes the initial public offering (IPO) on the London Stock Exchange;
New formats — the Supermarket and Hypermarket — are launched;
Magnit is awarded the status of the fastest-growing company in the world by Deloitte;
The Company completes secondary public offerings (SPO) on the London Stock Exchange, spending the raised funds to develop its store network;
Magnit is the first retailer to switch to direct import for the most in-demand products.
2010 — 2012
The Company opens its first drogerie store — Magnit Cosmetic;
The Company launches Zelenaya Liniya Greenhouse Complex in Krasnodar region to produce its own vegetables and greens;
Magnit becomes the largest private employer in Russia, retaining that status to this day;
A new format — Magnit Family — is established.
2013 — 2015
Magnit is the largest retail company in terms of the number of stores, selling space, performance, and sales volume;
Magnit’s capitalization on the Moscow Stock Exchange exceeds RUB 1 tn;
Magnit Cosmetic becomes the largest drogerie chain in Russia;
Magnit stores start accepting bank cards; first self-service checkouts appear;
The number of Magnit stores exceeds 10,000;
The Company starts building its own industrial park — Industrial Park Krasnodar.
2016 — 2018
New formats — Magnit Pharmacy and Magnit Cash&Carry — are launched;
The first distribution center beyond the Polar Circle opens in Murmansk, the 37th facility for the Company;
Magnit launches its own champignon mushroom growing facility in Krasnodar region;
VTB Group purchases 29.1% of Magnit’s shares, Sergey Galitsky resigns;
The development strategy until 2023 is presented;
The first resident of the Industrial Park Krasnodar — Kubansky Kombinat Khleboproduktov — starts operations;
Magnit Cosmetic becomes Russia’s largest retailer in cosmetics and perfumery goods.
2019
Jan Dunning is appointed the President and CEO of the Company;
The new cross-format brand for all Magnit stores is presented;
The 20,000th Magnit Convenience store and the 5,000th Magnit Cosmetic store are opened;
The second resident of the Industrial Park Krasnodar — Konditer Kubani — is launched;
New formats — the superstore and Magnit City — are piloted;
Magnit launches its multi-format loyalty program;
Magnit partners with the Russian Football Union and Russia National Football Team;
Launch of a new logistics strategy—the “Freshness Chain.
2020
Completion of the loyalty program roll-out in all regions covered by the Company;
Partnership with P&G to create the largest network of reverse vending machines in Russia;
Launch of the #MagnitCare social program and provision of over 350 thousand food packages;
Appointment of Florian Jansen as Magnit’s Executive Director and acceleration of large-scale digital transformation;
Adoption of the Sustainability Strategy up to 2025;
Launch of the MGNTech corporate accelerator to search for innovations;
Opening of the first My Price discounters;
Development of e-com and e-pharma: launch of six online delivery projects using both in-house capabilities and partners;
Opening of a new distribution center in Novosibirsk and a restored one in Voronezh;
Accession to the UN Global Compact;
Opening of a metropolitan Magnit Convenience store;
Start of the ERP transformation program implementation stage;
Opening of the first thematic superstores;
Launch of the Green Office program;
Opening of the first stores in the Republic of Ingushetia;
Launch of Magnit Pay;
Implementation of a unified forecasting and replenishment system based on a platform by Relex Solutions.