Up until now there were two of them, Profi and XXL Mega Discount! This year, however, could see their number increase to as many as five. Plus, Penny Market and Minimax are the three discount-type stores that could enter the Romanian market as of this autumn.
All three chains have warehouses under various stages of construction located in cities in southern Romania that will supply the first stores to open this year. All three chains are hoping for a near simultaneous opening of several discount stores, mainly in southern and central Romania (each hopes to open within a week of its potential competitors).
"It's no surprise that new players would enter the market, considering the potential of this segment," says Gabriela Mengher, marketing manager of Profi Rom Food, which operates the first discount chain on the Romanian market, Profi.
The potential of this market is precisely what has drawn a large part of the international players in the field of distribution. Metro, Carrefour, Louis Delhaize and Rewe have invested hundreds of millions of euros on the Romanian market and will invest even more in light of increasing purchasing power. Money coming from the grey economy and that sent home by Romanians working abroad (this year estimated at more than 2 billion and 3 billion euros respectively), has induced growth in the consumption of foodstuffs, namely of those products that are generally sold by a discount store.
The first to seize the opportunity by opening discount outlets on the Romanian market were the French-Belgians at Louis Delhaize, active through the Profi chain since 2000. They are now operating a 19-store chain in Western Romania. "We took development one step at a time and started in the west of the country because of the support of our Hungarian branch," Mengher added.
The second discount chain in Romania at the moment is XXL Mega Discount!, a brand developed by German Rewe Group on this market only. The group will also introduce the Penny Market brand this autumn, market sources say, which comprises discount stores of 800-1,000 sqm. The Penny Market stores could open this November and will be serviced by a central warehouse located in the commune of Stefanesti, near Bucharest.
The second discount chain opening in Romania this autumn is Minimax. The network is being developed with the help of the former head of the XXL Mega Discount! project, Rainer Exel. Exel left the German Rewe Group at the end of last year and decided to stick to what he knows best, namely store development.
The third discount chain is Plus, the specialised division of Germany's Tengelmann Group. The group is now building a logistics structure inside the Ploiesti industrial park, a 20 million-euro investment.
ionut.bonoiu@zf.ro
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