The fact that three of the world's biggest retailers, withcumulated annual turnover of around 80 billion euros are showingheightened interest in Romania is a positive signal for the localretail market.
Swedish-held IKEA entered the Romanian market directly, afterbuying the operations and the furniture store in Baneasa fromGabriel Popoviciu, German-held Lidl has recently paid over 200million euros for the Plus supermarket chain, whilst anotherSwedish group, clothing retailer H&M is close to signing thecontracts to open its first stores in Bucharest.
These signals, which come at a time when retailers and owners ofretail space complain about the sales decline, prove the market'srecovery prospects, once the general trend of the economy isreversed and consumer confidence returns, believes MihneaSerbanescu, majority shareholder and general manager of real estateconsultancy DTZ Echinox.
"Retail has good potential. Look at what IKEA has done, look atLidl's acquisition, they prove massive confidence in the market'spotential. At the same time, fashion retailer H&M chose Romaniaover Bulgaria because it believed the local market to be moreattractive so that it can open its first stores here," saidSerbanescu in an interview to ZF.
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