Octavian Radu, RTC owner, takes over Aldo stores

Businessman Octavian Radu, whose RTC group of firms is a 250-300m-euro business, has taken over five Aldo footwear and accessories stores, in the wake of a 1.6m-euro investment, expecting to generate two million euros in the first year. Thus, the businessman is strengthening his foothold in fashion retail, which will bring him 15% of sales at yearend, from 5-7% at present. "Investments in the takeover of this brand amount to 1.6m euros, in which the franchise accounts for 10%. In December, we had the first discussions with the company's management, and the contract was signed shortly after that. We wanted this brand, the more so as the footwear segment was completely uncovered, and we tried all year long to invest in this business," stated Octavian Radu, RTC owner. The five Aldo stores located in Bucuresti Mall (two stores), Baneasa Shopping City (two stores) and Polus Center in Cluj (one store) were taken over from Turkish-held Retco Retail company, which owned the franchise for Romania, with its around 40 employees. The start of this year saw Radu add three new brands, of which two on the fashion segment and one on the restaurant one. This year, Radu says he will be "cautious", referring to the decision to open other stores, but will seriously consider certain closures if he does not get lower rents or purchasing power sinks further. However, Radu has not completely given up his expansion plan, particularly in the case of areas for which he has already signed contracts.