“We now have 24 stores in Romania, the last of which opened in Giurgiu (south of the country i.e.) next to the Kaufland hypermarket. We have only one more opening planned this year, in Bacau (eastern Romania) next to the Real store,” said Cristian Codrea.
The executive hopes the retailer will expand at the same rate as in the last few years, but that decision is not only up to it. The company stepped up expansion in the past two years, opening 10 stores in 2011 and seven so far in 2012. It arrived in Romania in 2009 when it opened three stores and the next year inaugurated four.
Codrea, 30, is one of the youngest managers in the local retail sector and has been running C&A’s operations since its entry in this country.
The company will choose shopping centers as it has done until now because of the lack of standalone space, its officials said. C&A stores in Romania have about 1,000 to 1,200 square meters in floor space.
Although the Dutch-held network has most of its stores in Bucharest, it also went to smaller cities other large retailers avoided such as Buzau, Giurgiu, Focsani and Baia Mare. One explanation to this might be that C&A is positioned on the medium-low segment, below its main rivals Zara and H&M. Part of the Cofra group, C&A is one of the largest fashion retailers in the world, with more than EUR6 billion in revenue in Europe and a network of over 1,500 stores.
C&A’s revenue in Romania reached EUR27 million in 2011, almost EUR1.6 million per store. The figure was calculated without taking into account the store opening date. If it remains the same, then this year’s revenue should reach EUR40 million.
Cristian Codrea did not provide estimates about the results, but said he is pleased with the performance of the business so far.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)