JYSK enters Bucharest after having reached 14.5m-euro revenues outside capital city

Danish furniture and home décor retailer JYSK Romania ended 2010 with 14.5m-euro turnover, up 14% from 2009, and expects a 10-12% increase for this year. With 13 stores outside Bucharest only, the company is now tapping into the capital city market, projecting as many as 7 stores in Bucharest in the following years.

The Danish company brought in Romania in a franchise system by Nordic Investment Fund Retail is opening its first store of Bucharest this week, in Militari Shopping Center, with the network thus reaching 14 stores. Investments in the 1,600 square metre space where more than 5,000 items will be sold amount to 1m euros.

"For Bucharest, we expect double sales per square metre compared with the country average," says Alexandru Bratu, a country manager with JYSK in Romania.

The business model so far strictly centred on expansion outside the capital city is accounted for by the Danish retailer's representative by the fact that there is a certain concern linked to Bucharest as a market, with many retailers preferring smaller cities for starters. "A completely erroneous theory from my point of view," he adds.