Enterprise Investors drives Profi to 100 stores

Profi retailer, controlled by Enterprise Investors investment fund, operating on the discounter segment, plans to go beyond the mark of 100 stores in Romania, from 83 at present.
Profi shareholders' decision comes at a time when competition on the discount segment, put by ZF at 1.8bn euros, is tightening as Lidl, one of the world's biggest players on this segment, which acquired Plus network, is entering the market.
"We want Profi network to have over 100 stores in Romania in December 2011," says Daniel Cîrstea, purchasing and marketing manager with Profi, who does not rule out the opening of stores from scratch or taking over stores from other networks.
To hit its target, Profi must rely on more aggressive expansion than last year's and open more than 17 stores, from 15 in 2010. The retailer is likely to invest between 17 and 25m euros in these stores, according to ZF calculations based on the average investment per store. Profi representatives did not disclose the investment budget.