The Merkur-programme is administered by The Centre of Competence on Rural Development (Distriktssenteret) and is being financed by the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development . The programme receives about 80 million NOK per year (2025) in funds that are assigned through various support schemes. Its prime focus is retailers in areas with population decline and long distances to other retail opportunities. Many of these retailers are in delicate financial situations for lack of regular or sufficient cash flow.

The programme has the following goals:

• To ensure access to a local grocery shop of good quality in rural areas
• To support rural grocery shops in initiating and maintaining profitable services that secure continued businesss operation and benefit the local community

The Merkur-programme offers competence to retailers through 10 consultants located all over the country who fulfil a range of services aiming to support business development. The consultants provide advice on how to obtain more energy-efficiency, devise new service offerings or help to transform the shop to be run as a partly self-serviced shop. They can also facilitate cooperation with existing private and public organisations like postal services, tourist information services or municipal services. Often, Merkur-consultants help the retailers by mobilizing the community to support the local shop.

So far more than 1000 retailers from around 800 local areas have applied for the programme. Not all retailers in areas with population decline apply for the programme. Due to their strategic location within a community and in particular a central position offering the possibility to easily cater to tourists, some retailers are able to make enough profit without any further help. Shops that are in the programme however are better off, and have a more positive development than most small shops that are not within the programme.

There has been an increasing need to strengthen the most marginal retailers in the Merkur-programme. Therefor, a support scheme has been set up that aims at helping those retailers initiate and offer a supply of services in addition to the ordinary shop business as well as to ensure and strengthen business operation.

Since 2008 book retailers have also been a part of the Merkur-programme. Merkur-Book is a programme for rural book retailers in the Norwegian periphery. The programme is offering the retailers to build competence and network to make them more profitable. The programme has the same structure as the regular Merkur-programme with some alterations to fit their market and business.

The Centre of Competence on Rural Development (Distriktssenteret) has been administering the Merkur-programme since 2019. Its tasks include evaluating retailers’ applications and granting support within the different support schemes, close cooperation with the consultants and to devise the programme in order to achieve the programme’s goals.

Contact

MERKUR-programmet, Distriktssenteret, Skolegata 22, 7713 STEINKJER

Head of Department: Steinar Fredheim
tel: +47 481 68 274
steinar.fredheim@kdu.no

Head of Communication: Dan Erik Aggvin
tel: +47  481 68 274
dan-erik.aggvin@kdu.no