Though each of them has its own store positioning policy, the two networks' will cross paths in 2009, in Sibiu, in the European Retail Parc shopping park.
Good locations for large retail areas are growing scarce or becoming too expensive to be purchased by retailers unwilling to endanger their profitability. This can account for the existence of some shopping centres in major cities hosting rival networks, satisfied with just a half of the area's sale potential.
Real and Carrefour have different views on store positioning options. While Real's manager says partnerships with shopping centre developers do not represent the main expansion direction of the Romanian network, Carrefour announces openings this year only in retail parks or shopping centres.
"We prefer not to be alone in the locations we choose. The presence of DIY or electronics outlets next to a hypermarket raises the location's potential of attracting customers," explains Jacobo Caller Celestino, general manager of Carrefour Romania.
Real is also located next to various trade formats, in 8 of its 14 locations, but it is only in Sibiu that the Germans' hypermarket is part of a retail park belonging to real estate developers.
The general manager of Real Hypermarket Romania, Tjeerd Jegen, does not see a significant opportunity for his company in the large number of commercial projects announced domestically.
The managers of the two networks do not see the large number of commercial projects announced in Romania as a positive thing.
"I'm not sure all the announced shopping projects will be completed. (...)," says Jacobo Caller.
The only shopping park Real has chosen so far, the one in Sibiu, will bring the Germans some hard-to-ignore competition as Carrefour announced it'd open a hypermarket in the same location, in 2009.
"Under the circumstances, Real and Carrefour will have two options: either engage in a tough price war that will have no winner, though, or rely on their own differentiation strategies that will allow them to coexist in the same location, which is the wisest thing to do," states Daniel Micu, senior partner with Trout & Partners marketing consultancy.
He says that as the market becomes more competitive, players will have to pay greater attention to differentiation strategies. Long-term success is guaranteed by such a strategy, maintains Micu.
Modern retail still has a significant growth potential given the large number of inhabitants of Romania, the second biggest market in the region.
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