Carrefour retailer has closed two supermarkets in Hunedoara andBaia Mare less than two years after rebranding them from Artima toCarrefour Express. These are the first stores of the former Artimachain to be closed by Carrefour.
The French company paid 55 million euros in 2007 for theacquisition of the Artima chain from investment fund EnterpriseInvestors, with the supermarket chain then comprising 21 stores. Atthe end of 2008 the stores taken over were in the red, the same asin 2007, with the business stagnating at the value of the previousyear, of around 100 million euros, according to the latestavailable financial reports.
"The stores in Hunedoara and Baia Mare have been closed in order tostreamline the supermarket portfolio. This year we already openedthree Carrefour Market stores in Bucharest, and are planninganother opening in June in Bucharest, in the Home & Design Mallin Ghencea," said Andreea Mihai, marketing manager of CarrefourRomania.
Last year, the chain saw a similar sales decline to that recordedby Carrefour hypermarkets - according to data supplied by theretailer - although in 2009 the French started investments in thestore chain taken over by Enterprise Investors, which can be put ataround 6 million euros in 2009.
The company posted 1.13 billion euros (VAT included) inconsolidated turnover in Romania in 2009, with 22 hypermarkets and25 supermarkets.
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