In a market flooded with counterfeit products, the stores selling brand-name products are finding it hard to survive. This also goes for Lacoste, whose sales on the Romanian market posted a meagre 12% growth last year, below the target. Nevertheless, the company's officials are satisfied with the evolution of sales.
Notos, the Greek company that holds the Lacoste franchise for Romania, has said it will postpone the opening of its second store.
Notos originally wanted the store to be included in Plaza Romania, the second mall-type store to be opened in Bucharest this autumn, but it failed to reach an agreement with the owners of the mall, according to Notos Romania representative, George Repidons. "Since Plaza Romania is slated to open this autumn, we wanted to be present there with a bigger store, of 300 square metres, where, beside Lacoste products, we planned to sell other famous brands, such as Cerutti and Trussardi, but we could not reach an agreement with the Plaza Romania officials, eventually," Repidons said.
"Under such circumstances, we decided we should not push with the opening of the second store. Several malls are going to be built in various areas of Bucharest and we are looking at these opportunities. We already have an operational store and we can wait until we find a suitable space, with the best price-quality ratio," he added.
The only Lacoste store operating on the Romanian market last year logged a 12% growth in sales as compared to 2002. This value is below the original estimates released by Notos Com representatives. "Sales climbed 12%, but we are content." At the time the store was opened, Repidons projected annual sales of 400,000 euros, but, according to data released by the Romanian Finance Ministry, last year's sales only slightly exceeded 300,000 euros.
The Lacoste store is located downtown Bucharest and spreads on 73 square metres. According to company officials, almost 100,000 euros were invested in the store. Lacoste registers annual sales worth 750 million dollars, as the brand is present, either through local branches, or through franchises, in over 100 countries. ionut.bonoiu@zf.ro
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