Cora inks more contracts in one crisis year than in six years on the market

Romania Hypermache French company, the operator of Cora hypermarket network, has sealed more contracts for store openings in the past year (November 2009-October 2010) than in its first six years of presence domestically, with the French thus being set to double its number of stores in two years.

Thus, while a year ago Cora had only three operational stores in Bucharest (Pantelimon and Lujerului) and Cluj, as well as a contract signed for the store of Sun Plaza mall, the French company in the meanwhile has tapped into other cities, sealing contracts for stores in Constanţa, Baia Mare, Arad, Craiova and Bacău.
The company's latest deal is the one in which it has bought a 3.5 hectare plot of land in Bacău, where it should start building a hypermarket and a shopping gallery in spring. Cora paid around 9m euros (390m RON/square metre) for this plot, making this one of the most important deals with land carried out domestically this year.
Cora representatives did not provide any additional information about the investment in this project by edition close. Recently, they have announced plans for the opening of ten new stores domestically within four years.