T MARKET is shutting its store on San Stefano Boulevard in Burgas, below the Atagen hotel. The shop will stay open until the end of October, and staff found out about the decision today.
Workers got one month's notice and are already looking for other jobs. The notices make clear the decision is final.
Once the store shuts at the end of October, the chain will have two shops left in Burgas, on Maragidik Street and in the Slaveykov district. Its stores in Meden Rudnik and Vazrazhdane closed earlier.
The chain now runs 14 stores in the Burgas region, counting the one below Atagen that shuts at the end of the month. T MARKET still trades in Aytos, Karnobat, Pomorie, Nesebar, Sunny Beach, Sozopol, Primorsko, Chernomorets, Sredets, Tsarevo and Ahtopol. There is no sign the chain is pulling out of Burgas or the wider region.
This was where the chain first set up shop in the city. Its first Burgas store opened near Atagen in May 2022 — the company's 101st store nationwide, and it made Burgas the 55th town with a T MARKET branch. A few months later a second store opened in Slaveykov, then in 2023 came the one on Maragidik Street, taking over a spot from another grocery chain, followed by the Meden Rudnik branch. Four years on, the spot where the chain's push into the city began is being given up.
T MARKET has not said why it is closing the Atagen store. It is not clear whether the reason is low sales, rent, staff costs, the lease terms, or a wider shake-up of the chain's stores.
Ownership of T MARKET's Bulgarian business changed hands within the wider group at the end of 2025, and a new chief executive took over the company in spring 2026. Despite revenue running into hundreds of millions of levs, the chain has posted an accounting loss.
Grocery chains have weathered high inflation better than other sectors, since households may put off buying appliances, cars or eating out, but they keep buying food. Sales have held up, and big chains keep spending money on new stores, refits and moves to better spots. A general drop in spending doesn't really explain store closures — the real question is whether each shop can cover rising costs for staff, rent, power, deliveries and upkeep.
The sector runs on thin margins: every receipt has to cover suppliers, wages, social security, rent, transport, warehouses, power, waste and promotions. Burgas is one of the most competitive cities for grocery shopping. Kaufland, Lidl, BILLA, METRO, local chains and many neighbourhood and specialist shops all trade there. They compete for customers on parking, easy access by car, opening hours, ready meals, shop floor space, promotions and how fast people can get in and out.