Arabesque, the largest domestic distributor of construction and finishing materials, has recently opened a 100,000 square-metre distribution centre in Belgrade and has reached over 200 million euros in overall investments since it was established. The new centre in Serbia is part of the company's regional expansion strategy.
Arabesque plans heavy regional expansion over the next few years, in Moldova, Bulgaria and Serbia, where it intends to open a network of around five stores within three years.
"We are hoping to reach around five branches within the next three years, but this very much depends on the trend of investments and the development in each country," Virgil Cezar Rapotan, owner of Arabesque, told ZF.
Founded in 1994, Arabesque has registered continued development and now operates 15 branches in major Romanian cities: Bucharest, Cluj, Timisoara, Brasov, Constanta, Iasi, Craiova, Ploiesti, Galati, Piatra Neamt, Bacau, Oradea and Baia Mare. In terms of figures, Arabesque now covers 550,000 square metres of sales area and 180,000 square metres of warehousing space.
"The total sum invested by our company exceeds 200 million euros. This has enabled us to distribute over 1.5 million tonnes of construction materials in Romania per year, with our fleet covering over 30 million kilometres per year to deliver over 25,000 products," added Rapotan. This year alone, the company completed investments worth around 27 million euros.
Arabesque began its regional expansion in 2005, when it opened a distribution centre in Chisinau, Republic of Moldova. Later, the company took over Ukrainian-based Budmax, one of the top three players on the business-to-business constructions market, with turnover worth 50 million euros in 2006.
The Budmax network numbers 20 branches in Ukraine's largest cities, with an overall warehousing space that covers 40,000 square metres and over 1,000 employees.
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