Kaufland, Cora, Auchan and even Carrefour will open new hypermarkets next year, while supermarket chains are fighting their battle in the street, on the ground floor of apartment buildings.
All these investments are based on the estimates that local consumer spending will increase by 50% to 60% on medium and long term, and the officials of some companies say they noticed a reversal of the trend this fall, after three years of decline.
Some stores built over the last few years turned out to be unsuccessful in the current market. After Carrefour closed its first hypermarket, in Braila, in 2009, German-held Real closed a hypermarket several weeks ago.
Such examples, as well as the failure of PIC and Spar networks in the first years of the crisis, show that retail is not an easy business and betting on expansion at all costs may turn out to be the wrong move in many cases. However, retailers have the real estate market on their side now and can expand cheaper. Some hypermarkets may still be closed in those cities where competition is fierce, though.
The largest European fashion retail networks such as Zara, C&A, H&M and New Yorker are opening stores in the best shopping centers in Bucharest and in the country and will continue to expand in 2012 by opening more than 50 new stores.
They are also looking for main street space for stores. Zara opened a store in downtown Pitesti (southern Romania) in 2010 and will open one in Sibiu (central Romania), while Italian-held Stefanel chose a landmark house in Piata Romana, Bucharest, for its store.
Bucharest’s Old Town is not a target for retailers because of the improper condition of most buildings in the area, so that significant changes are highly unlikely this year.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)