10m-euro Bricostore in Brasov

Bricostore Romania, a company held by French Bresson Group, has invested 10 million euros in a DIY store in Brasov, in close proximity to the Carrefour hypermarket. The opening of the first Bricostore outside the capital city, in Brasov, is in line with the French group''s expansion strategy on the Romanian market, as specified by general manager Isabelle Pleska. This year is the first when the French group will speed up its expansion pace from one to two stores. "Bricostore will open another store in Ploiesti this year," the representatives of the company say. Bricostore Romania currently has four stores, with the Brasov-store joining the other three in Bucharest. Its main competitor on the domestic market is Praktiker, the DIY division of the German Metro Group. Pra ktiker opened its first store in Romania in 2002, close to Metro Cash & Carry in Voluntari. Bricostore Romania made 21.6 million euro turnover in 2003 according to Finance Ministry data, while Praktiker made nearly 18.8 million euros. ZF