The record number of clients visiting the Orhideea commercial centre, which opened last fall near downtown Bucharest, in the Grozavesti area, has allowed French group Carrefour to post sales worth about 128 million euros on the Romanian market, up almost 30% from the previous year, when the group operated only one hypermarket in Romania.
"In the fourth quarter of last year, when we operated two hypermarkets, we saw sales climb 64% (in ROL, inflation not included, i.e.) as compared to the year-ago period, which is very satisfactory and in line with our expectations. This growth will be sustained in 2004, with the opening of the Colentina unit planned for the end of February and the Brasov hypermarket at the end of the year," Gilles Venet, Chief Financial Officer of Hyparlo group, which manages the Carrefour hypermarkets in Romania, told Ziarul Financiar.
However, the sales of the Carrefour hypermarket based in the Militari area of Bucharest, the most profitable unit of the French group in Central and Eastern Europe, actually dropped in the fourth quarter of last year as compared to 2002, as competition in Bucharest became fiercer.
"Militari has obviously been affected by the openings of stores at the end of the year (the two hypermarkets - Carrefour Orhideea and Cora Pantelimon, but also the cash & carry Metro unit in the Berceni area, i.e.), but the decrease of the Q4 turnover had been anticipated," Venet said, without revealing the sales logged by each of the two Carrefour hypermarkets in Romania.
Until the Carrefour Orhideea hypermarket opened last September, the only hypermarket held by the French group in Romania had posted 9-10% monthly sales growth, exceeding 70 million euros.
In the last quarter of 2003, sales of the two Carrefour hypermarkets in Bucharest were 20 million euros higher than the results posted in the year-ago period by the Militari unit - 32 million euros.
"The successful opening of the Orhideea hypermarket, despite the opening of large competitors in the meantime (another hypermarket and a new cash and carry) demonstrates the potential of the country and especially the big size of the market in Bucharest. With the opening of the Brasov hypermarket, we intend to prove the potential of the province market," Venet added. The Hyparlo official said the group was also planning to launch two hypermarkets in 2005.
Carrefour entered the Romanian market in mid-2001, when it opened its first hypermarket in the western area of Bucharest. Last fall, the company opened the second hypermarket, located in Grozavesti (a central area of Bucharest) and started building the third unit, to be opened in Colentina (the eastern side of the city).
Competition emerged last fall, when French group Cora opened a hypermarket in Pantelimon, in the western area of Bucharest and began construction of its second unit, located in the western part of the Capital. The two Carrefour hypermarkets spread on 8,500-10,000 square metres each, whereas the Cora hypermarket has an area of 16,000 square metres.
ionut.bonoiu@zf.ro
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