RTC group decided to merge its two store chains, Office Net and @Litera, after discovering that Romanians were not big fans of imported formulas in the field of stationery. The change will trigger costs amounting to eight million dollars.
"Reality showed us that the Romanian market cannot be segmented according to Western models and that our consumers behave in a very Romanian-like manner," RTC general manager Octavian Radu told Ziarul Financiar.
"Therefore, we decided to merge the two concepts into a single one, to be called Diverta," he added.
Office Net store chain represented a business-to-business concept, similar to the US-based Office Depot, while @Litera, whose book and music offer targeted mainly natural persons, copied the French FNAC model.
The two chains were initially conceived so as to hold distinct identities, but they eventually overlapped in the stationery sector.
According to Radu, RTC could not exactly forecast market demands, as it was among the pioneers of this field on the Romanian market. However, he says that he has benefited from choosing his own itinerary.
"Our edge is that we are very flexible as compared to multinational companies," he said. "We would not have learned so much if we had conducted a survey worth 100,000 dollars. We are smarter now and the loss is in fact a gain," Radu maintained.
According to RTC general manager, the group's policy aims at nationwide expansion, to big and small towns.
The change of concept was planned not only at a structural level but also at the image level, through an advertising campaign conceived by Tempo Advertising. The campaign is to be launched in a few days on PROTV and all local TV stations across the country.
"We are mainly targeting young people who go for music and books, and that's exactly why we chose a more aggressive campaign," Radu says.
Diverta network is present in 40 towns, with four units based in Bucharest. Radu hopes that the group will have 300 stores in the years to come.
RTC portfolio also includes RTC Holding SA, Antalis SA, operating in the field of printing paper, Euros SA, with logistic and real estate activities, and RTC Paper Converting.
RTC has recently sold the main stake in Euro Paper Converting to Greek company Inform P. Lykos.
Pentru alte știri, analize, articole și informații din business în timp real urmărește Ziarul Financiar pe WhatsApp Channels
