German-held Metro group, the biggest player in the Romanian trade, could resume its expansion on the cash & carry segment over the following 2 or 3 years, after having reached 23 outlets last year.
"The 23 outlets are sufficient for the moment and are in line with the group's coverage strategy, that is one outlet for per one million inhabitants," stated Francois Oliver, general manager of Metro Cash & Carry Romania.
He specified the next store openings by the company would target areas that are not covered by international trade chains, with a high enough purchasing power.
"Until then, we want to bring all the outlets of Romania to the standard of the outlets opened last year. Some outlets could be expanded, in terms of surface area," added Oliver.
The first three already modernised outlets are those in Bucharest-Militari, Timisoara and Brasov, each of them having entailed investments standing at 4-4.5 million euros.
Other stores to be modernised are those in Suceava, Cluj-Napoca and Constanta, with investments in this project due to reach 27 million euros at the end of next year.
At the same time, Metro's strategy also includes focusing on the HoReCa (hotel-restaurant-catering) segment, as this is the customer category with the highest growth potential. "We will boost sales by attracting more customers over the following years. The space for fresh products will get bigger in existing outlets because we plan to attract in customers from the HoReCa segment. Moreover, the development of fresh product categories will help us secure our customers' loyalty," stated Oliver.
Another element of the strategies aimed at ensuring customer loyalty and at consolidating the partnerships with suppliers is the organisation of Metro's own exhibition, Metro Expo, this month. The company has earmarked more than 2 million euros for this event, according to Oliver.
Metro Cash & Carry Romania, which coordinates the operations of Metro Cash & Carry in the Republic of Moldova, has recently opened the second outlet in Chisinau, in the wake of investments of some 15 million euros. The third outlet in Moldova will be opened in December, in Balti.
Metro Cash & Carry opened its first outlet in Romania in 1996, in Bucharest and last year reached a network of 23 outlets and turnover worth almost 1.25 billion euros, which places it among the biggest private businesses in Romania. Moreover, the company doubled its net income last year, to 56.6 million euros.
Besides the cash & carry network, Metro German group is also present with the Real hypermarket network on the Romanian market.
Another Metro unit that entered the domestic market in 2003 was the DIY store chain Praktiker, which become the biggest player on its respective market. Meanwhile, Metro sold the Praktiker network internationally.
Metro Cash & Carry
Opened its first outlet in Romania in 1996, being brought on the Romanian market by businessman Ion Tiriac, who owns 15% in the company
Reached a network of 23 outlets, with the average investment per outlet standing at 15 million euros
Registered sales worth 1.25 billion euros in 2005
Reported net income worth 56.6 million euros last year
Is the biggest player in the Romanian trade
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