The owner of the bam boo brand, Andromede Decor, currently has 15 stores in Bucharest and other Romanian cities, and is undergoing reorganization. Nine stores in its network have been closed, but the remaining 15 will carry on.
Sampers wants to end 2013 with 30 bam boo franchises in Romania. He said negotiations are underway to take over the franchises in Satu Mare, Bucharest, Iasi, Craiova and two-three more cities, and there are also plans to open bam boo stores in Serbia, Bulgaria, Hungary and Turkey.
The initial investment for a store under the bam boo brand is around EUR65,000 for a 300 square meter location. Of this amount, EUR7,500 is the franchise fee, furniture costs EUR24,000 and the stock of goods is another EUR30,000. The operator of a bam boo franchise has to pay for the products (40-45% of sales), royalties (8%), marketing (2%) and transport from the central warehouse (5%).
The bam boo network was created in 2003 and currently has locations in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Iasi, Constanta and Timisoara. Its stores see 2,500 visitors every day and the shopping basket is worth RON45-50 per person.
Last year, the company posted turnover of 22 million lei (EUR4.89 million), down 40% on 2010. (EUR1=RON4.4987)