Today, after 19 years has passed from the establishment of the IKI retail chain, it is hard to believe that in 1991, when three brothers - George, Oliver and Nicolas Ortiz - came to Lithuania from Belgium, there was no single modern self-service supermarket here. And not only that.
Great changes were taking place in the country at that time: state institutions were being established, the new economic system was being developed, and people created and tried to get accustomed to a new way of life.
The three brothers from Belgium opened the first modern grocery store at Vokiečių St. 6, in Vilnius, in 1992. At that time, customers were astonished at everything: the variety of goods and attention of salespersons. When the first modern self-service store was opened in Antakalnis neighbourhood, Vilnius, in 1993, it immediately attracted plenty of attention from customers and it became apparent that a new and high-quality model of respectful and customer-friendly service was entrenched in Lithuania.
The opening of those first stores marked the beginning of the history of the retail store called by a catchy word "iki". In Lithuanian, "iki" means a joyful good-bye for a short time. We say "see you soon", "see you later", or "see you" when we know that we will meet somebody very soon again. The retail chain IKI says "Iki!" to its customers inviting them to come back and remember that they are always welcome and loved here.
1992 - first IKI food store in Vilnius
2000 - first "Pigiau grybo" (now - CENTO) store
2002 - first IKIUKAS store
2003 - IKI introduces loyalty program IKI PREMIJA
2004 - IKI introduces private label "Made in IKI"
2005 - first IKI store in Riga, Latvia
2006 - IKI invests to modern warehouse management system
2007 - first CENTO store
2008 - first self checkout machine in Lithuania
2008 - IKI introduces Panevėžys logistic center
2009 - IKI introduces Panevėžys deli center
2010 - with 213 stores in Lithuania, IKI becomes the widest retail chain in the country