Mic.Ro wants to be first retailer among Snagov and Corbeanca villas

Before entering major cities, Mic.Ro convenience store network, indirectly owned by Dinu Patriciu, is eyeing small localities around Bucharest where the most luxurious villa complexes have developed during the economic boom years.
The retailer is already recruiting people for 15-20 stores to be opened in Corbeanca, Snagov, Săftica, Baloteşti and other areas with new housing projects near Bucharest, according to ad websites.
Real estate consultants say this is a lucrative strategy for a small retailer.
"There are no stores in the respective areas; as a resident, one needs to walk even 1-2 km to the first store to buy staples. Moreover, rents are much lower than the ones in street front spaces of a district like Berceni or Militari," says a real estate agent.
Large retailers avoid these localities as they need a daily client flow of several thousand people per store to be profitable. Instead, a shop with a 50-100-sqm area similar with the store format developed by Mic.Ro needs only several hundred customers daily to survive.