Gorillas even retreats on German domestic market

Just as Just Eat Takeaway starts its attack on the German flash delivery market, Gorillas has announced a further retreat – this time leaving four cities in North Rhine-Westphalia.

“Core markets” become core cities

In Bochum, Gelsenkirchen, Dortmund and Münster, Gorillas’ dark stores have become deserted and no delivery bikes are to be seen, local news site Ruhr Nachrichten reports. The Berlin-based company confirms that it is withdrawing almost completely from the Ruhr region: only in the city of Essen will it remain active. In Gelsenkirchen, the grocery delivery service only lasted a year.

The news comes shortly after a partial withdrawal in the Netherlands: there, Gorillas stops operating in six cities. Both moves were met with surprise, as the Dutch and German market are two of the five “core markets” that the flash delivery company had only recently defined, after earlier withdrawals in Belgium and Spain, among others. Even those core markets now seem to be shrinking into “core cities”.

Gorillas is in financial difficulties, now that the boom during the pandemic is over and investors are turning away from risky start-ups. In May, the company had to lay off 300 administrative staff at its Berlin headquarters. Meanwhile, Just Eat Takeaway is taking advantage of this struggle by launching its own express delivery service in the German capital, called Lieferando Express. Things are getting tense on the delivery market…