“Urbanization has been spectacular in the past 30 years. Cities have grown a lot, in every respect, so a number of residential districts developed on the outskirts, where they experienced infrastructure and utility problems,”
says Laurentiu Duica, senior vice-president with real estate consultant Avison Young.
“Old manufacturers are in city centers. There is no place for plants in cities; their sites are ideal for residential and retail developments.”
The latest example in this regard is Braila-based shirt maker Braiconf, which will have its General Meeting of Shareholders vote on the sale of its current site to Kaufland and relocation of its plant.
Other such examples are the replacement of Colgate-Palmolive plant near Obor, of the Grivita brewery near the Basarab Overpass, of the Industria Iutei facility in Bucharest and of Poiana in Brasov. The former Colgate-Palmolive plant near Obor became the first Kaufland store in Romania, when the US group dropped local production and kept only import and wholesale operations.
Poiana chocolate factory in Brasov closed to make room for a Lidl store on the site. The Poiana-branded chocolate is now made in Bulgaria, according to the latest ZF data.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)