Big retail chains are relying on stores this year, as well, inorder to force expansion on a market where new shopping centres areonly on paper. In a year when local retailers continue to fight forsurvival, the big "sharks" in food retail are coming up with over50 million euros for new expansion projects, according to ZFcalculations.
Billa, Mega Image, and Carrefour Market operators will open anoverall 46 stores in 2010, compared with 26 last year, according toplans announced by the companies.
So, the second year of consumption decline in the history ofmodern retail brings to the forefront a market segment previouslyovershadowed by the hypermarkets' aggressive expansion: smallconvenience food stores.
With a 1,000 square-metre store format, foreign supermarketchains find their way into areas not covered by hypermarkets,seeking to move into locations from retailers that caved in to thecrisis.
Moreover, in the last year modern kiosks have made their wayinto the market - Finnish-held R-Kiosk and the Mic.ro chaindeveloped by billionaire Dinu Patriciu - will speed up thedevelopment of the segment. The new kiosks cover up to 200 squaremetres and in Bucharest - the starting point for these newexpansions - they compete with the 1,000-2,000 small shops andmini-markets.
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