Epicentr K

In 1994 Oleksandr Hereha and his wife Halyna began to sell the tiles from Poland at markets. In 1996 they've founded the Cermet AGS company and opened a tile store in Kyiv. In 2001 following the experience of Castorama's Polish chain it was decided to build a big hardware hypermarket. The Epicentr name was suggested by one of the sellers and a K letter was added as a short for команда, a team in Ukrainian.

The first Epicentr K was opened 6 December 2003 in Kyiv on Bratyslavska Street. In 2005 the company opened two more stores, on Kiltseva Road and on Petra Hryhorenka Avenue, both of them were situated next to Metro Cash&Carry stores.

In 2006 it was decided to expand the business to other regions, the first hypermarket outside of Kyiv was opened in Lviv, alongside it the company built the stores in Poltava and Odesa.

In 2007, eight stores were built nationwide including ones in Dnipropetrovsk and Kryvyi Rih, the latter one had been built in 76 days.[3] As of 2008, there were 16 stores built with eight more projected. That year a hypermarket was opened in Ivano-Frankivsk.

In 2009, the company expanded its offerings to include consumer goods in addition to building materials[4], also they've built a hypermarket in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka in Kyiv Oblast, their first mall outside the regional center. Also a mall was opened in Uzhhorod.

On 11 December 2009 the company opened 56,000 square metres (600,000 sq ft) store on Berkovetska Street in Kyiv, the largest of its kind in Ukraine, the building also served as a company's main office.[5][6] The opening ceremony was held by Viktor Yushchenko, the President of Ukraine at the time.[7]

The peak of company's extension was in 2010–2013, 8-9 stores were opening each year.[8]

In 2010 the new malls in Lutsk, Vinnytsia and Zaporizhzhia were opened.

In 2011 the chain had opened their 30th store, it was built in Mukachevo, Zakarpattia Oblast.

In 2012 the Epicentr hypermarkets were opened in Dnipropetrovsk, Simferopol, Mariupol and Horlivka (Donetsk Oblast).

In October 2013 Epicentr K acquired the controlling stake of Nova Liniia hardware store chain.[9]

In 2013 the new mall was opened in Dniprodzerzhynsk (Dnipropetrovsk Oblast), Kolomyia (Ivano-Frankivska Oblast) and Donetsk.

In December 2014 the company opened the 105,000 square metres (1,130,000 sq ft) hypermarket, at 20 Polyarna Street in Kyiv. The store is recognized as "The World's Largest Trading Center of DIY format" by the Book of Records of Ukraine, surpassing their previous record set in 2009.[4]

In September 2015 Intersport sports goods company became a partner of Epicentr opening their first Ukrainian stores in the hardware malls.[10]

In 2015 the hypermarket chain had bought a closed Alta Center mall in Kyiv and began expanding it. The reconstructed mall was reopened as Epicentr K in March 2018.[11]

In 2016 Epicentr opened their online store called 27.ua, later it was renamed to epicentrk.ua. Pick-up points began to open in various cities, the first Epicentr in Kyiv, opened back in 2003, was reconstructed into pick-up point as well.

In 2019, the agrarian operations of Epicenter K expanded after its owners purchased 1,364 hectares.[12] Also the company had built a new malls in Kovel, Novovolynsk (Volyn Oblast), Kramatorsk (Donetsk Oblast), Khust (Zakarpattia Oblast) and Boiarka (Kyiv Oblast).

In 2020 Epicentr K had bought the Modul mall in Bucha, Kyiv Oblast, and reconstructed it into one of their hypermarkets. Also the malls in Vinnytsia, Zaporizhzhia, Melitopol (Zaporizhzhia Oblast) and Kalush (Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast) were built.

In 2021 a new Epicentr was opened in Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.

Each store has a big overflow and free parking. In each store you can find also a cafe and a bank. The company offers a possibility of custom design on a wide selection of its products as well as delivery and an express delivery.

The company also helps with the construction of the Kyivan Spiritual Academy and participates in a wide variety of sponsorship throughout the country: Gert Goff show commemorated to 750-year anniversary of Lviv, jubilee concerts of Pavlo Zibrov and Valentyna Stepova, and many others.

During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Epicenter K in Mariupol suffered significant damage during a mass bombing on 2 March as part of the Siege of Mariupol.[13]

• Epicentr K Sports Club (in Ukrainian)