BM Is Rebuilding the Spanish Supermarket Shoppers Thought Lost

As supermarkets race towards automation, simplified assortments and price-led competition, BM is taking a different path. At its flagship store in Madrid, the retailer is bringing back the experience of the traditional market while combining it with modern retail technology.

Across Europe, supermarkets are becoming increasingly efficient.

Stores are reducing labour, simplifying assortments, expanding self-checkout and competing aggressively on price. For retailers, these changes improve productivity.

For shoppers, they often make grocery shopping feel increasingly transactional.

BM believes there is another way.

Rather than asking customers to choose between the quality of a traditional market and the convenience of a supermarket, the Spanish retailer is attempting to combine both.

Its flagship store in La Finca, Pozuelo de Alarcón, just outside Madrid, represents that vision. Covering around 1,000 square metres, the store combines specialist fresh departments, local sourcing, digital tools and premium merchandising to create an experience built around customer wellbeing rather than operational efficiency alone.

BM Is Refusing to Compete as a Commodity

BM is a family-owned business with more than 30 years of history, subsequently acquired by private equity firm PAI Partners. In just seven years, the company has expanded from zero stores in Madrid to 86 locations and more than 2,000 employees, integrating acquisitions including Iber Group alongside organic store openings.

José María Mendieta de la Rica, who leads BM's regional operations and previously spent nearly ten years at Lidl Spain and Lidl International, makes one point repeatedly.

BM refuses to become a commodity retailer.

"We refuse, and I said it before recording," he told Alex Rezvan on The Retail Podcast. "We refuse to become a commodity retailer."

That philosophy shapes every investment the company makes. Instead of asking how cheaply it can sell products, BM asks how it can create a shopping experience customers cannot easily find elsewhere.

Its strategy rests on four pillars: fresh food leadership, assortment depth, service quality and customer experience.

Those priorities may sound familiar.

The difference is that BM has designed the entire store around them.

Lighting, shelf heights, circulation and visual merchandising have all been carefully planned with a simple objective: ensuring customers leave the store happier than when they arrived.

More Choice, Not Less

Many supermarkets have reduced product ranges in recent years to simplify operations.

BM has deliberately expanded them.

The La Finca store carries approximately 10,000 SKUs, allowing shoppers to complete an entire grocery mission without needing to visit multiple retailers.

Its assortment also challenges another growing industry trend.

Rather than heavily prioritising private label, BM maintains a mix of approximately 85% manufacturer brands and 15% own label.

"It is a model built on freedom, not restriction," José explained. "With our own brand, customers can save when they choose to. And with manufacturer brands, if it matters for trust or taste, they have it too."

Fresh Food Is the Centre of the Business

For BM, fresh food is not simply another department.

It generates almost half of total sales and defines the retailer's identity.

Rather than replacing specialist counters with packaged alternatives, the company continues investing in skilled colleagues.

Fishmongers explain the differences between wild-caught and farm-raised seafood. Butchers prepare premium cuts and traditional roasts, including whole chicken, ribs and beef preparations from a hot corner that gives customers restaurant quality meals without preparation time. Specialists hand-slice Iberian ham to order at a dedicated station that José describes as essential for any store serving the Madrid market.

The bakery combines traditional presentation with customer-friendly innovations, including a self-service bread display where customers select, weigh and choose their preferred slicing thickness.

A refrigerated pastry cabinet, supplied by Viena Capellanes, a Madrileño brand synonymous with artisan craftsmanship, completes the offer.

The experience feels less like a supermarket and more like the neighbourhood markets that have gradually disappeared from many Spanish cities.

"While traditional markets in Spain are closing," José said, "we offer this mix that the city is missing. The craft and closeness of a traditional market, combined with the most advanced approach to freshness, service and technology."

Local Sourcing Is Measured, Not Marketed

Retailers frequently promote local suppliers through seasonal campaigns.

BM has embedded local sourcing into its operating model, describing the approach through the concept of Kilómetro Cero.

"Local is not marketing for us," José said. "It is part of our business model."

The company works closely with producers across the Madrid region, providing stable and predictable demand rather than occasional purchasing opportunities.

Local suppliers are integrated into BM's logistics network while receiving premium shelf positioning that allows both their products and their stories to stand out.

Importantly, the retailer measures the strategy.

Performance is tracked through local sales, supplier growth, customer penetration, repeat purchasing and gross margin contribution.

"When those KPIs move in the right direction," José said, "we know we are strengthening the region's food ecosystem."

Technology Is Enhancing Expertise, Not Replacing It

Digital innovation appears throughout the store, but it never dominates the experience.

Instead, technology is used to support customer decision-making.

One example is the store's virtual wine recommender.

Customers search by grape variety, denomination of origin or food pairing. Once they make their selection on screen, a light signal activates on the corresponding shelf, guiding them directly to the correct bottle.

The technology removes friction without replacing the expertise traditionally associated with specialist wine merchants.

That philosophy extends across the wider business.

Technology exists to make shopping easier.

People remain central to the experience.

A Store That Tests the Future

Although La Finca serves an affluent neighbourhood, BM does not view it simply as another premium supermarket.

It performs three strategic roles.

It is the company's flagship, showcasing the highest standard of what BM can deliver across assortment, service and fresh food leadership.

It is an innovation laboratory. New concepts tested here include ready-to-eat low-temperature dishes, fresh food merchandising formats, automatic glove dispensers and, most recently, the virtual wine recommender now being evaluated for rollout across the wider network.

And it is the template. What works at La Finca becomes the blueprint for refurbishments and new store openings across Madrid.

"Although we are in a luxury area," José explained, "the principles are fully scalable: quality, fresh food, digital convenience and assortment depth."

The Next Battle in Grocery Will Not Be Won on Price Alone

José believes shoppers increasingly expect something that few retailers currently deliver.

They want the quality of a traditional market, the convenience of a supermarket and the speed of digital retail, all within a single shopping trip.

"At BM, you don't have to choose or give anything up," he said. "You can find everything, and you can find it in a single visit."

That ambition reflects a broader shift taking place across European grocery.

Consumers still value competitive prices. But they also expect freshness, expertise, local sourcing and shopping environments that justify leaving home.

José is direct about the risk of competing on price alone.

"When the only difference is price, everything else becomes a compromise," he said. "That is a fragile path."

BM is betting that the supermarket of the future will not look more like a warehouse.

It will look more like the neighbourhood market that many shoppers believed had disappeared, supported by technology rather than defined by it.

In an industry where so many retailers are becoming increasingly similar, BM is pursuing a strategy that stands out for a simple reason.

It is trying to make grocery shopping enjoyable again.