With 178m euros in sales, Bricostore no longer competes for no. 1 position

French DIY store chain Bricostore saw its turnover down by 27% last year against 2008, to 178 million euros, sliding further behind Praktiker and Dedeman, which are fiercely fighting for the no. 1 position this year, as well.
In the first year when it faced the decline in demand for construction materials and for interior design materials, the French retailer reported a 16% turnover drop in RON compared with 2008 and saw its net profit down to 33 million RON (7.8 million euros), a third of what it used to be.
The only expansion project finalised by Bricostore in 2009 was the opening of a store smaller than the chain's average in Calarasi, near a PIC hypermarket.
The market decline and the arrearage in the real estate sector stifled the French retailer's expansion on the Romanian market, after it had peaked with five new store openings in 2008. The chain currently numbers 14 stores. Several new store projects initially planned for last year remained only on paper because of retail park projects being frozen in Deva and Satu Mare.