Dedeman had previously opened four more stores in Cluj-Napoca, Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Baia Mare and Alba Iulia (NW, SW, northern and central Romania) this year, so that its total investment budget amounted to almost EUR60 million, ZF has calculated.
Dedeman is the first major DIY network in Romania to open a store in Tulcea (SE Romania).
Tulcea county, however, is at the bottom of the ranking by number of new homes built last year, with merely 183 units completed, leaving only Mehedinti county (SW Romania) behind with its 138 homes, National Statistics Institute data reveal.
The new store in Tulcea will bring Dedeman’s network up to 26 stores, one store less than German-held Praktiker, the largest DIY chain on the local market.
While Praktiker expanded in full gear from 2003 through 2008, when it opened at least three stores a year, Dedeman started moving faster in 2009 and has opened 14 stores in three years.
A regional network with stores in Moldova at first, Dedeman became a national company and beat Praktiker to the top spot in the ranking of the DIY market, with EUR369 million sales in 2010.
It expects revenues to overshoot the EUR400 million mark this year, according to the plan to boost sales by 10% given the continued investments in stores.
Dedeman intends to continue investments in five stores a year; the cities where it might go to in 2012 include Ramnicu-Valcea, Bistrita and Constanta (southern, northern and SE Romania). The store in Constanta would actually be the company’s second in the city.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)