Hornbach should open three stores, after having opened one in Cluj this year. MAM Bricolaj and Brick are two other networks looking to expand in Romania and France’s Leroy Merlin and Romanian-held Dedeman will add a store in Brasov, each. All the new store openings should be done with about four years.
At an average investment of EUR27 million per store, Hornbach has the biggest budget, while the other networks have lower budgets or did not disclose them. In all, the retailers should spend about EUR90 million, market data show.
“We want to grow organically, not fast. Expanding a lot is not necessarily the best thing. By investing, we develop and conduct market surveys when we decide to open a new store. Constanta is next, as well as the fourth store in Bucharest in two years and a second one in Timisoara. We will also go to Moldavia but do it later,” Mugurel Horia Rusu, general manager of Hornbach Romania has recently said.
Brasov is the city most retailers chose, i.e., Dedeman, Leroy Merlin, MAM Bricolaj and Brick Romania, which announced they put it on their expansion list for the coming period, prompted by significant demand for construction materials.
The new stores will be Dedeman’s and Leroy Merlin’s second in the city, while the other retailers will open their first stores there.
DIY retailers in Romania compete on a market put at EUR3 billion to EUR4 billion a year.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)