Ukrainians have strengthened their positions in Polish retail: about 1,100 outlets of the popular chain operate under their management
In Poland, Ukrainians are increasingly entering the small and medium-sized business environment, and franchising of a large retail chain has become one of the most striking examples of this movement. In the Żabka chain, about 1,100 stores are already managed by Ukrainians, and the growth over the past year has been particularly noticeable, as almost 600 new entrepreneurs from Ukraine have joined this model.
How the role of Ukrainians in the chain has changed
According to Wiadomości Handlowe, the growth rate is impressive. In the last year alone, almost 600 new Ukrainian entrepreneurs have joined the franchise model. For the Polish retail market, this indicator has become noticeable given the scale of the network, which at the end of 2025 had over 12 thousand outlets, including outside Poland.
Among Żabka partners, Ukrainians ranked second in number after Poles, and in the network itself, approximately every tenth store is managed by a Ukrainian. For a system that is expanding at a rapid pace and opens hundreds of new locations every year, such a share means a significant presence in daily business management.
The growth rate is of particular interest. Over the course of one year, the network opened over a thousand new locations, and a significant part of these outlets operate under the franchise model, which is actively being joined by Ukrainian entrepreneurs.
Who opens stores under the Żabka brand
The majority of Ukrainian franchisees are people who have been living in Poland for a long time and have managed to gain a foothold in the local economic environment. According to the company, 44% of such partners have been living in the country for seven to ten years, another 32% have been there for four to six years, while about 15% of Ukrainian store managers have been living in Poland for less than three years.
This structure shows that the franchise is mostly not entered by those who have just moved, but by people who have already gone through the adaptation stage, understood the local market and gained the experience necessary to independently run a retail outlet.
For some Ukrainian entrepreneurs, working with Żabka was a continuation of their previous experience, as some of them managed stores or small retail chains in Ukraine. After moving to Poland, franchising turned out to be a clear format for them, in which you can work according to a ready-made model and not build a business from the initial stage.
The attractiveness of this format is explained by several factors that are well combined with the needs of people entering a new economic environment. Opening a franchise store requires a lower starting threshold than starting a separate business from scratch, the company provides support, the “store near home” format has stable demand, and the model itself has already been tested in many locations.
The story with Żabka fits into a broader process that is noticeable in the Polish economy as a whole. According to Polish data, in 2025 alone, Ukrainian citizens registered about 33 thousand new companies in Poland, and this number was approximately one tenth of all new businesses created in the country per year.
Against the background of these figures, the participation of Ukrainians in the franchise model of a large retail chain looks like part of a larger movement within which Ukrainian business is gradually gaining ground in various segments of the Polish market.
