Decathlon currently has stores in Bucharest (3), Brasov, Cluj and Iasi, and the new launches are planned for Pitesti, Timisoara, Constanta and Craiova.
The Constanta store will be part of the TOM project, and the Craiova one is part of Electroputere Parc, whose first development stage will be delivered in November this year.
For the stores in Pitesti and Timisoara, Decathlon has started to recruit personnel after deciding on the plots where the stores will be built.
In Pitesti, it will open a store in the project where the Carrefour store is located (Jupiter City i.e.), and in Timisoara the store will be built near the Real hypermarket in northern Timisoara. “We are also in negotiations for a future store in Ploiesti, where we are analyzing two or three plots in the north of the city, close to the Carrefour store,” said Fabrice Beschu, country manager of Decathlon.
This year, the company has so far opened a single store, in Bucharest, after four openings in 2010.
Decathlon last year posted a turnover of nearly EUR44 million, both through its store network, and through a production facility in the city of Timisoara.
In Romania, Decathlon also holds Roumasport company, which posted EUR18.2 million in sales last year, as well as Madiron Prod, registered in Timisoara, a company with EUR25.6 million in revenue in 2010.
The intention of the French company is to reach a 20-store chain on the Romanian market in ten years’ time, which means it will next target cities with a population of around 200,000.
(English version by Daniela Stoican)