The German group Metro is likely to reach a level of 24 cash & carry stores in Romania by the end of this year after it opens three new units - in Timisoara, Arad and Baneasa (Bucharest).
The group has already exceeded the two targets it set over the last nine years, of 10 and 20 stores, respectively. Average investment per store is in the region of 15 million euros.
"We will open a store in Timisoara in September, our second store in that city, and also one in Arad," says Delia Nica, PR manager with Metro Cash & Carry Romania.
According to market information, the company is likely to open another store in the Baneasa area of Bucharest by the end of the year as part of a larger commercial project.
Nica confirmed that talks were being held over the location of the Baneasa store, however she chose not to specify the date for the opening, saying that nothing formal had been signed as yet. If the Baneasa store opening goes ahead, the German group will then own two stores in the northern area of Bucharest. Besides the Baneasa store, Metro has had a store in the Otopeni area since the autumn of 1996.
This Otopeni store was the first Metro store on the Romanian market and is also home to the company''s headquarters.
Metro''s 21 stores in Romania last year exceeded the 1bn-euro-turnover threshold, making it the biggest seller on this country and, from this point of view, one of the largest private businesses on the domestic market. Metro''s only rival on the cash & carry segment is Selgros, another German group with eight stores.
The German giant - the second largest in Europe after Carrefour - first entered the Romanian market in 1996 following the opening of the store in Otopeni.
Metro was the first major international player to enter the Romanian market and embrace a cautious policy.
After 1999, when the Romanian manager Dusan Wilms was appointed to run the company, Metro began to speed up its expansion and announced a target of 10 stores, which it subsequently increased to 20.
Metro has now reached 21 stores, and Dusan Wilms, the former head of the company in Romania, has risen within the hierarchy of the German group, last year being appointed regional head of Metro Cash & Carry for SE Europe.
ionut.bonoiu@zf.ro
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