Since 2001, when French retailer Carrefour pioneered the hypermarket concept on the Romanian market, by opening a store in western Bucharest, four other retailers have joined a rapid growing market. Cora opened its first store in 2003, followed by Kaufland in 2005 and Auchan and real,- in 2006.
The financial crisis made Carrefour (leader on the local hypermarket segment with sales of about EUR1 billion) and real,- Hypermarket (the retail division of group Metro) slow their expansion, after they opened up to ten stores annually in the boom years for Romanian retail.
The Cora network, operated locally by company Romania Hipermarche, has opened five stores over the past two years. Cora, one of the most cautious retailers on the local market, opened only three stores between 2003 and 2009. Now, Cora wants to open up to 25 new stores in the next three or five years, in an attempt to overrun Carrefour and real,-.
Philippe Lejeune, who has run Cora’s Romanian operations for over a decade, says Bucharest is still Romania’s main market. A few months ago, he said it is still room for two or four more Cora hypermarkets in Bucharest.
Cora runs three stores in Bucharest, and another one is set to be launched in 2013, in shopping center Park Lake Plaza.
Auchan Romania general manager Patrick Espasa said a few months ago the retailer might open stores in cities where it is not present, such as Galati and Brasov, as well as in Bucharest, where the retailer has only two stores.
The French retailer wants to open at least three more hypermarkets in Bucharest.
German retailer real,-, part of the Metro group, announced it will resume expansion in Romania this year, after a one-year break. In 2011, real,- closed one of its three stores in Timisoara.
Carrefour Romania general manager François Melchior de Polignac said the retailer will open new stores starting this year.
(English version by Ioana Tudor)