ZAGREB, February 13, 2020 - The Pevec household hardware chain has changed its name to Pevex, the chairman of the chain's management board Jurica Lovrinčević told a press conference on Thursday.

The decision was made in order to distance the chain from the name of the previous owners, Lovrinčević explained. The founders and former owners, Zdravko and Višnja Pevec, were sentenced in 2015 for abuse of powers and financial wrongdoing.

Lovrinčević added that over the past four years the chain had undergone a huge business transformation and now had 2,000 employees compared to the previous 1,100 in more than 10 stores, and revenue had increased from €148 million to €283 million.

It is hoped that the name change and minor visible changes will be more attractive to younger consumers and that the new brand will mean a new beginning, Lovrinčević added and that the rebranding will cost about €1.35 million.

The chain plans to open smaller stores in towns with about 10,000 residents but currently there are no plans to expand outside of Croatia.

A new store is expected to be opened in the northern Adriatic city of Pula at the end of this year, which is an investment of €4.05 million and another store in Vinkovci in eastern Croatia valued at €5.4 million.

Lovrinčević underscores that the company is not experiencing a shortage of workers as the average net wage has been increased by 38% in the past three years. The average wage in Pevex today is HRK 6,800 (€918) while the minimum net wage is HRK 5,000 (€675) a month.

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As Novac writes on the 3rd of October, 2019, Jurica Lovrinčević, CEO of Pevec, has revealed in a new issue of Lider that he will propose to the general assembly to change the name of the very well known trading company to move the company away from the past and former owners.

Although a legal battle against the Pevec family was finally won after four long years of trying, which involved suing the company for copyright infringement (for using the family name Pevec), Lovrinčević thinks that the company should go in that direction regardless of the ''win'' in the court, because of the negative PR associated with it all.

''There are several versions of the new name for now. If the supervisory board gives any of them the green light, we will inform the interested public about the new name by the end of the year. Certainly, it is ultimately the decision of the shareholders.

Three years ago, the Pevec family was offered a seven million kuna settlement on the table in exchange for the termination of all legal proceedings against the company. We wanted to stop all of that constant negative PR we're witnessing now. We have been successful in the most important copyright dispute, and now more than five million is owed.

We don't know if we will settle anything and in what amount, but we do know that the Pevec company today has neither taken or owed them anything, especially not the company's ownership structure. Regardless, we will propose a name change to the general assembly,'' Lovrinčević said to Lider in its newest issue, clearly concerned with all of the negative press even the mere use of the company's current name brings with it.

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As the demographic crisis and the economy continue to be the main topics of general discussion in the media here in Croatia, not everything is so bleak, and Pevec seems to be just going from strength to strength.

As Adriano Milovan/Novac writes on the 19th of August, 2019, the popular outlet Pevec purchased the former Super Konzum facility in Slavonski Brod in continental Croatia not so long ago, and announced the opening of a brand new centre at the site.

The facility in Slavonski Brod's Petar Svačić street (ulica), was purchased by Pevec from the Dutch WPC Agro II fund and is currently still in the takeover phase, while the official opening of the new centre is expected at the end of this year.

In addition to the redesigned shopping centre, which Super Konzum left at the end of June this year, they also announced the opening of a number of accompanying facilities, such as a car wash and even a cafe. All employees currently working at the old Pevec centre in Slavonski Brod will have their jobs fully protected and be relocated to the new centre, and the plans are to hire even more new employees, according to a statement from Pevec.

''The new centre will have a richer offer and will span as much as 5,035 square metres. I would like to emphasise the fact that this is another small step in our long-term strategy in which we want to be present in all communities above 15,000 inhabitants,'' said Jurica Lovrinčević, the CEO of Pevec.

Pevec is also opening a new sales centre in Vukovar and is planning to construct two new sales centres in Vinkovci and down on the coast in Split. Over the past three years, the company has taken over eight existing sales centres and opened five brand new ones under the Pevec name, and recruited almost 600 new employees.

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An economic boost is on its way to Eastern Croatia, more specifically to Vukovar this autumn with the opening of a brand new Pevec sales centre, bringing with it employment opportunities and much more to this otherwise greatly overlooked city.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 25th of March, 2019, Pevec has signed a contract for the construction of a sales centre in Vukovar with a local company from Slavonski Brod, Projektgradnja, which is otherwise a member of the Fortenova Group. The new sales centre will cover an area of ​​almost 5,000 m2. On the first floor, the office space that will be used by the company is set to be done up, Pevec's logistics and potential other tenants will make use of the revamped space.

"We have signed a contract with the Croatian company Projektgradnja, with which we're getting another modernly equipped and well-organised sales centre, employees will get high quality working conditions, and our customers a nice location for good and always competitive purchases. The opening of the new Vukovar sales centre is scheduled for October the 1st, 2019, and Vukovar will get fifty new jobs,'' Krešimir Bubalo of Pevec's management board, said.

Samofino Café will also open its doors within the new Vukovar centre. In the second stage of construction, additional business premises are planned and the retail center Pevec is expanded to a retail park with other retailers and brands.

"It's my great pleasure that Pevec, as the first Croatian trading chain, is investing in the city of Vukovar. We're building two sales centres in Slavonia, with which we want to try to encourage our people to stay here. By increasing the net minimum wage to 5,000 kuna in our stores, for our merchants, warehouse workers and our drivers, we're going to be giving our employees jubilee awards, systematic examinations, Christmas bonuses, child allowance and support for newborns, we'd like to show our employees that we care and that through working for Pevec, they can realise their dreams in Croatia,'' stated the president of Pevec's management board, Jurica Lovrinčević.

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As many as 200 new work positions are set to be opened by Pevec.

Good news for Pevec!

A new addition for Čakovec.

Pevec in Kutina currently employs 45 people.

The entire project is expected to be completed by next summer.

In the first six months of the year, Pevec had profits 12 times higher than last year.