Ruch kiosks have been successively closed for several years, and this process has accelerated in recent months. In 2019, Ruch had 1,333 sales outlets, and in the middle of this year only 411. Radio Eska determined that there are 128 kiosks under this banner throughout the country. Not the case here. An era is simply coming to an end.
Ruch kiosks will disappear from Poland. Orlen confirms. “Permanently unprofitable”
The press office of Orlen, the majority shareholder of Ruch, confirmed this Virtual Mediathat the company will withdraw from operating all free-standing kiosks by the end of December. Some of them will still operate as kiosks, but under a different brand.
The move was forced to take this step by the company's poor financial results. Not only is the popularity of the press falling, but also Ruch's share in the printed press distribution market decreased year to year from 21.6%. up to 13.7 percent – according to data from the Chamber of Press Publishers in February 2023. Orlen considered Ruch kiosks “permanently unprofitable”, so it began the process of closing them. Instead, the company prefers to focus on self-service Orlen w Ruchu points.
The end of over 100 years of history. The sad fate of the Movement
The history of Ruch kiosks dates back to World War I. The first kiosk was opened in January 1919 on the platform of the Vienna Railway station in Warsaw. In less than half a year, over 60 kiosks and bookstores were already operating. Over time, Ruch took over the “Czytajcie” company and transformed it into a joint-stock company. In 1935, it was the only nationwide press sales network and had 700 points throughout the country.
During the communist times, in 1971, as a result of the merger of Ruch and the Workers' Publishing Cooperative “Prasa”, the Workers' Publishing Cooperative “Prasa-Książka-Ruch” was established. It was closed down only in 1990. Then a state-owned enterprise was established under the name Przedsiębiorstwo Kolportażowo-Handlowe Ruch, which was transformed into a sole-shareholder company of the state treasury under the name Ruch. The new company took over the assets of the liquidated RSW “Prasa-Książka-Ruch”.
Since 2000, the popularity of kiosks has been declining. In 2011, Ruch became a private company and was withdrawn from the Stock Exchange, where it was listed in 2006. In 2020, Orlen purchased 65 percent. Ruch's actions to save the brand. However, it didn't help much. Two years later, the Ruch capital group recorded a decline in sales revenues by 10.4%. to PLN 799.61 million, while its net loss decreased from PLN 61.25 to PLN 86.07 million. At the end of April 2024, Ruch completed press distribution. At the end of the year, it will completely cease operations in the form it has known for over 100 years.