Electra Consumer Products

Electra Consumer Products (1970) Ltd. is a publicly traded Israeli consumer group listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.[1] The group operates across electrical consumer products, electrical retail, food retail, sports and leisure, and investment property. Its current about page describes more than 370 stores in more than 120 cities and approximately 270,000 square metres of retail space, while the 2024 annual report lists 333 branches for that reporting period.[2][3]

In 2024, retail food was the largest operating segment by revenue, followed by electrical retail. The group’s portfolio included Carrefour supermarkets, Mahsanei Hashmal, Shekem Electric, Shekem Duty, an Adidas franchise chain, and air-conditioning and consumer-products operations.[3]

Electra Consumer Products’ company history dates its establishment to 1951, initially as an importer and distributor of electrical appliances. The company says it became part of the ELCO Group, under the Zalkind family, in 1992, opened its first Shekem Electric store in 1995, and went public on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in 2010.[2] Its 2024 annual report uses the legal name Electra Consumer Products (1970) Ltd., while the company history gives 1951 as its establishment date; the materials do not explain the difference between those dates.[3]

The company’s public-market history included a delisting in late 2007 and reissue on the exchange in 2010. Before the reissue, Elco sold a 10% stake to Leumi Partners for NIS 100 million, implying a company valuation of NIS 1 billion. The business had been separated into a profitable Israeli electrical-consumer-products marketing operation and a loss-making air-conditioner manufacturing and sales business, most of which was conducted in Europe.[6]

A series of acquisitions and divestments reshaped the company’s retail activities. In 2007, subsidiary AMZ Electrical Products Marketing agreed to acquire Mahsanei Hashmal for NIS 200–215 million, depending on inventory, with a possible additional payment of up to NIS 30 million if specified targets were met. The appliance retailer then had 19 stores and had reported revenue of NIS 547 million in 2005 and NIS 513 million during January–September 2006; its managers were to remain for three years.[7] That year Electra also acquired computer distributor Taga Magam for NIS 25 million, after recently acquiring the Israeli distributor of General Electric products. It planned a NIS 20 million restructuring of the Electra brand across appliances including air conditioners, ovens, refrigerators, washing machines, and dishwashers.[8]

Electra acquired ACE in early 2012 for NIS 129 million after its previous owners accumulated NIS 450 million in debt and entered a stay of proceedings. By December 2016, ACE had 30 branches, including 18 Auto Depot branches, and Electra had decided to sell the chains because it considered them outside its core business. Its stated strategy was to reduce non-core retail activity and strengthen its air-conditioner industrial business; Mahsanei Hashmal, Shekem Electric, and Sensor remained in its portfolio at the time.[9]

The company’s later diversification included a 2020 strategic partnership in which Bosch acquired a 40% stake in Electra’s heating and air-conditioning systems manufacturing operations.[2] In 2021, the company entered travel and leisure through the Saar Group and duty-free retail, and its history page associates its entry into food retail through Yeinot Bitan and a Carrefour franchise with 2022.[2][10]

Electra Consumer Products is organized across activities that span manufacturing and distribution, branded retail, and consumer-facing services. Its 2024 annual report identified five operating segments: electrical consumer products; electrical retail; retail food; sports and leisure; and investment real estate. Electrical consumer products includes importing, exporting, marketing, selling, distributing, and servicing electrical goods. Electrical retail includes chains selling appliances, cellular phones, and accessories, while sports and leisure includes travel, camping, skiing, snowboarding, and outdoor-sports products as well as an Adidas franchise chain.[3]

For 2024, segment revenues were NIS 1.162 billion in electrical consumer products, NIS 2.550 billion in electrical retail, NIS 3.338 billion in retail food, NIS 510 million in sports and leisure, and NIS 13 million in investment property. Adjustments and other items were negative NIS 167 million. The report associates food retail with Global Retail C.I. Ltd., operating under Carrefour brands, and electrical retail with Mahsanei Hashmal, Shekem Electric, and Shekem Duty.[3]

The consumer-products business has a particular focus on air conditioning and HVAC. The company describes its activities as including manufacturing, importing, exporting, and nationwide distribution, through business units named Electra Air Conditioning, Electra Trade & Brands, Electra Customers, and Electra Industries. Its listed global brand partners include Daikin, Samsung, Miele, Liebherr, Philips, Midea, and TCL. The company identifies Mickie Bitton as leading import and trade activities and, since 2024, also overseeing air-conditioning and HVAC operations.[11]

The company’s management page identifies Daniel Salkind as chairman and Zvika Shwimmer as group CEO, a role Shwimmer has held since 2018. It also lists Netnael (Nati) Botbol as CFO, Shahar Pery as COO, Liat Kahalon as VP Import & Export, Yoav Dori as chief of staff for strategic planning and control, and Nir Chen as CIO.[12]

Electra’s entry into food retail centered on the acquisition of control of Yeinot Bitan, a supermarket group that included Mega. In May 2021, Electra agreed to buy a 35.05% stake for NIS 194 million, while Phoenix agreed to buy 15%, giving the two investors a combined 50.05%; the Bitan family was to retain the balance. The deal was subject to regulatory and banking conditions. Electra was to assume day-to-day management, secure a board majority, and receive an option to buy the family’s shares. Its CEO described the transaction as part of a strategy to expand retail activity, including food, convenience stores, leisure, and sport.[13]

The company’s 2021 annual report says agreements to acquire control of Bitan Wines were signed on 5 May and that a subsidiary acquired approximately 35.07% of its share capital on 27 May. It states that Bitan Wines operated approximately 151 branches at the time.[10] A September 2022 report described the group as having 150 branches and as Israel’s second-largest supermarket chain, with Mega among its brands.[14] An October 2021 account had described Yeinot Bitan as operating about 200 stores.[15] The company’s current about page associates food-retail entry with 2022 and gives 152 stores, so the sources frame the timing and branch count differently.[2]

Electra’s Carrefour agreement followed. In March 2022, the companies signed a memorandum of understanding for Carrefour to enter Israel through a franchise lasting 20 years, with a possible 20-year extension. The plan was to convert more than 150 Yeinot Bitan supermarkets gradually to Carrefour branding and introduce Carrefour own-brand products. The arrangement called for an initial payment and further payments based on a proportion of revenue. Electra’s CEO called Carrefour’s planned entry “the biggest and most significant move ever in the history of retailing in Israel.”[4]

The launch proceeded in stages. Yeinot Bitan planned to convert 25 supermarkets by the end of 2022, at a reported investment of NIS 40 million, followed by 20 further conversions in the first quarter of 2023. Initially, some stores were expected to operate under the Superbrand name before Carrefour’s full entry.[14] In May 2023, Carrefour opened its first 50 Israeli branches; the franchise agreement envisaged establishing 150 branches. Carrefour said the Israeli stores would offer more than 1,000 own-brand products across 82 categories, and the launch was presented as a bid to increase competition in a concentrated food-retail market.[16]

By August 2024, 102 supermarkets were operating under the Carrefour name. For the second quarter of that year, Carrefour Israel reported operating profit of NIS 24 million, compared with a NIS 50 million loss in the corresponding quarter of 2023. Electra reported food-retail revenue of NIS 812 million for the quarter, 7.4% higher year on year, and sales at converted Yeinot Bitan branches 16% above a year earlier.[17]

Electra’s appliance-retail chains have remained a major part of the group. A 2025 report described Mahsanei Hashmal and Shekem Electric as serving 2.5 million customers annually and holding a 30% market share. Based on data from January through May 2025, it reported that one in every four dryers sold was from Electra, and that the group held about 20% of the market in washing machines, freezers, and refrigerators. The same article put Electra Retail at 92 stores and 53,000 square metres of retail space, with a 27% share of an industry whose turnover was NIS 8 billion.[18]

Brand and distribution arrangements have also shifted. Electra’s 2024 annual report says Electra Retail signed an agreement with Samsung on 30 October 2024 to import large kitchen appliances and televisions made by Samsung and its subsidiaries, with sales in Electra Retail stores planned to begin on 1 January 2025. The agreement was also associated with ending intermediary services through Samline.[3]

Electra reported revenue of NIS 7.406 billion for 2024, compared with NIS 6.488 billion in 2023. Its annual report recorded operating income of NIS 330 million, net income of NIS 34 million, earnings attributable to company shareholders of NIS 52 million, and EBITDA of NIS 704 million. The comparable 2023 figure in the report was a net loss of NIS 282 million, with comparative figures reclassified in connection with discontinued operations.[3] Calcalist likewise reported that revenue grew 14% and the company moved from a 2023 loss to net profit of NIS 52 million; it also reported a NIS 40 million dividend after two years without one.[19]

Segment performance varied. In 2024, electrical retail generated NIS 2.55 billion in revenue, while food retail generated NIS 3.338 billion.[3] Calcalist reported that Mahsanei Hashmal and Shekem Electric recorded NIS 2.5 billion in sales, up 24% from 2023, while air-conditioning activity revenue fell 9.2% to NIS 917 million.[19]

The company’s brand identity has been promoted through its air-conditioning business. A 2025 article marked 80 years of the Electra brand and described it as a leading name in Israel’s air-conditioning industry. At an event at Expo Tel Aviv on 17 March, CEO Zvika Schwimmer said the orange color had been “synonymous with the Electra brand for 80 years.” The anniversary concerned the brand and does not establish that the current corporate entity itself was founded in 1945.[20]

In January 2026, Electra’s portfolio was described as spanning food retail through Carrefour, apparel through Columbia and Adidas, electrical-appliance retail, and air-conditioning operations. The company was reported to be seeking to bring Primark to Israel, but its statement described this as an ongoing examination of international-brand opportunities, not a completed franchise agreement.[21] In September 2026, Electra notified the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange that it had filed an initial prospectus with the Israel Securities Authority for a possible IPO of Carrefour’s Israeli operations. Electra held a 49.49% stake in France Israel Group, which wholly owned Global Retail, the operator of the Israeli Carrefour chain. The report said a possible offering might follow the holidays, likely in November, while emphasizing that the draft was preliminary and the offering’s occurrence and terms were uncertain.[22]

Electra pursued convenience retail through a 20-year franchise agreement with 7-Eleven, with an option to extend it for a further 50 years. Following a memorandum of understanding signed in November 2020, Electra planned to invest NIS 60 million by 2024, open 300–400 stores, import 7-Select private-label products, and share a loyalty club with Yeinot Bitan.[15][23] The first Israeli store opened in Tel Aviv in January 2023, when the company planned eight additional stores in the first half of the year and 30 by year’s end.[24] CEO Zvika Schwimmer described the chain as offering “an experience with fast food, a large variety of hot and cold drinks, and various products that do not exist elsewhere.”[15]

The rollout fell far short of its original scale. A 2024 report said the chain had opened 10 stores, two of which had already closed, and recorded a NIS 68 million loss in 2023, including NIS 43 million in operating expenses attributed to closing some branches. Electra said it had reassessed the branded-store business model, was considering bringing in an investor, and planned to reduce operations significantly.[25] The 2024 annual report says that in May Electra agreed to transfer the leased properties, equipment, and inventory of seven stores to Saban Express for NIS 3 million.[3] Other reporting described the sale as covering eight stores, named the buyer Seven Express, and reported an operational loss of NIS 37.8 million. The differing figures and descriptions do not establish one directly comparable total.[26]

Globes reported accumulated losses of NIS 60 million in May 2024 and NIS 70 million in August.[17][5] Ynetnews also reported an allegation that the chain’s reduced presence was connected to concerns about protests, but presented this as an allegation rather than an established explanation.[26] Electra said it preferred to concentrate resources on Carrefour, while its annual report stated that the subsidiary retained the 7-Eleven franchise for three years and could, subject to 7-Eleven’s consent, resume operations or sell the franchise agreement.[3][5]

A separate commercial dispute arose after Electra began importing TCL television screens directly from China for sale through its Mahsanei Hashmal and Shekem Electric chains. Calcalist reported that the arrangement limited direct sales to Electra’s own outlets, did not give Electra the right to distribute the screens to other Israeli retailers, and did not include every TCL model available through the official importer, SG. The report said SG subsequently stopped supplying the two Electra chains with other brands it handled.[27]