Thus, Cora, which owns some of the most profitable stores in Romania, may catch up to the largest hypermarket networks, Carrefour and Real.
“We will expand further. Next year, we will open three stores, in Slobozia, Bucharest and Bacau and in the following years the other units,” said Philippe Lejeune, who has run Cora’s Romanian operations for over a decade.
In 2012, Cora will open the Slobozia hypermarket in the first half and the other two toward yearend. “The Slobozia store will have a smaller floor area (around 5,000 square meters, i.e.), following the model of Arad and Constanta stores, while the other two will be larger”.
Lejeune also said the company will open stores in all the cities where opportunities arise. Usually, the population of each city is a strong criterion, but this is not set in stone considering Cora chose Slobozia, a town that has less than 100,000 inhabitants, the minimum limit for competitors on the hypermarket segment.
“The best city for us in terms of expansion is still Bucharest. Two weeks ago, we bought a plot of land in Bucharest, in a good area,” says Lejeune, without giving additional details. He added Cora is seeking other plots, but the price has to be good, between EUR50 and EUR200 per square meter. He has previously announced the retailer owns land in several areas of Bucharest.
Cora is negotiating a EUR210 million loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to fund expansion. The total amount earmarked for investments in new stores nears EUR400 million.
Cora, which entered the Romanian market around ten years ago, had s far a slower development compared to other retailers’, with just five stores opened until the end of last year.
Lejeune said Cora is set to post higher sales in 2011 amid a slight consumption rebound. Last year, Cora reached EUR343 million in turnover.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)