This is the first sign the retailer is speeding up expansion for large stores, to a level closer to the one of the boom period. Over the past two years, the French retailer launched just one hypermarket per year, counting on smaller units, namely Carrefour Market stores.
At the end of last year, the company’s representatives said they would open only the hypermarkets in Botosani (Botosani Shopping Center), a city in Northern Romania, and Bucharest (the Colosseum project), without providing any data on the Deva store. According to Deva city hall officials, the date Carrefour announced for the completion of construction works is October 8, 2011. Market sources say the store could be opened in mid-November. Carrefour representatives chose not to comment on this issue.
The company voiced its intention to enter Deva market almost four years ago, when it was on the list of companies interested in the Hunedoara county city (SE Transylvania), together with its rival Real. Real opened its store in 2007, while Carrefour postponed the opening.
Carrefour is also going to Botosani county for a hypermarket. The county is one of Romania’s poorest, with a net average salary of EUR257. The Botosani hypermarket will have a 7,000 square meter area and will be opened by yearend, according to the latest information.
For this year, the French group also announced the opening of a hypermarket in Bucharest, to be located in Colosseum project and have a sales area of 8,500 square meters.