Prague - The first chain of small groceries called Žabka (a "little frog" in Czech) was opened by the Penta Investments group in the Czech Republic.

The shops will be opened from 6 AM to 11 PM, some of them will even operate  non-stop.

Gap in the market filled

"We have decided to open the chain of Žabka grocery stores because precisely this kind of shop is not in the Czech market," explained Zdeněk Linhart, the Director General of the company Žabka.

"We [Czechs] have chains of large hypermarkets and supermarkets, but a chain of small shops of 60 to 120 square meters is still non-existent here," added Linhart.

The new Žabka chain will offer Czech customers about 1,600 types of goods, which is roughly twice as much as what some other discount shops offer.

In addition to food, there will be newspapers and basic dry goods and possibly some additional services too, for example charging of mobile phone credits or posting money orders.

The first shop was opened in Prague's Maiselova Street in a special opening ceremony. By the end of this year the company plans to open about fifty other places, above all in Prague and surrounding areas.

Polish idea

In following years, "little frogs" are going to invade the rest of the country. In three years, there can be as much as 250 small stores that will bear a colorful logo.

The chain is based on a system similar to that of franchises - the Žabka stores will be leased to and managed by independent tradesmen.

The chain founded in Poland in 1999 has been bought by Slovak company Penta Investments one year ago.

In 2006, its sales were 370 million euro, which made profits of 13 millions euro before taxation, depreciation, and other reductions.