In a first interview with ZF, Argentopoulos describes himself as a “bee” because of the various industries he has worked in, from plastic and textiles to construction, telecom and now real estate.
The manager is well accustomed to the Romanian business environment, where his first job was with Romtelecom and since 2007 he has been on various boards of directors of companies in various sectors, part of the group of companies controlled by Gabriel Popoviciu and other businesspeople.
Argentopolous has an MBA and is a trained engineer, just like his predecessor, Ali Ergun Ergen, who at the beginning of the year returned to the helm of Anchor Grup.
How does he plan to keep the Baneasa project among the top players after last year it posted EUR170 million in sales without considering the large stores outside the mall, such as IKEA, Metro and Bricostore, and how is he planning to leave his mark on the business that last year generated EUR32 million in revenues from rent?
He says business needs to change because the means of getting financing are changing. The old financing model, of going to the bank and getting a loan, is no longer valid, according to him. Now, in order to have access to listing, to private equity funds, and to institutional investors have to adjust the business model to a corporate one.
What changes customers who shop at Baneasa will see
An investment plan is being discussed, but it is not very clear what it will look like yet, with the project of an entertainment centre for the whole family being the most feasible.
The project will be modified to include an expansion, but not a very large one. It will include areas for relaxation and entertainment, addressing all age categories, under and above 15, and a smaller area will be dedicated to commercial spaces. He says the company is working on a strategic plan, and that he has been given three years to implement this plan, with the yield set to be above 15% in order for the project to be sustainable in the long term.
A new marketing approach
The manager believes it is necessary to have a different approach to marketing, considering that there are three brands – Baneasa Shopping City, Feeria and Grand (the cinema) – that need to be merged into one. Loredana Croicia, the marketing manager of the Baneasa project since before the opening of the mall, in 2008, will leave the company.
On the other hand, the position of chief operational officer has been created within the project, and a Greek manager, Nicos Xethalis, has been recruited.
The cinema, inaugurated last autumn, helped raise the revenues of Baneasa Developments from EUR29.8 million to EUR32 million last year, which makes Baneasa the commercial project with the biggest revenues from rent last year, as well, leaving behind AFI Palace Cotroceni.
Traffic in Baneasa also went up 9% last year to 17 million visitors, i.e. a daily average of 47,000 people.
Cinema ticket sales of EUR3-4 million
The cinema’s target this year is to sell 800,000 tickets, with revenues from ticket sales set to amount to around EUR3-4 million, according to ZF estimates.
So, for this year representatives of Baneasa Developments expect a 10% rise in revenues only from the functioning of the cinema the entire year.
In order to hit its growth targets, the company intends to focus more on percentage rent from retailers, calculated based on sales, considering that over 90% of the stores in the Baneasa project boast at least satisfactory results, according to the mall’s representatives.
“No-one can afford to do retail as a hobby anymore, there is no more room for amateurs, only institutional, professional retailers are left on the market.”
Competition is approaching, with Austria’s Raiffeisen Evolution building fast the Promenada mall next to Aviatorilor metro station, which is set to be completed in the autumn of next year. How is Baneasa preparing?
Closeness to an office area will be beneficial to the restaurants and coffee shops in Promenada, but the mall is not large enough to offer diversity, Argentopoulos says. He adds that Baneasa has the advantage of space, so it can counter competition, whereas Promenada doesn’t have this, so it has to make the mall a good one from the very start.
Local banks are lacking
Although in the case of banks from Greece, his native country, there is increasingly talk of nationalization, Argentopoulos says the Romanian business environment lacks local banks, which should be able to finance the economy at this time, when local subsidiaries of international financial groups are mainly interested in activity in their countries of origin.
(English version by Daniela Stoican)