JYSK has five stores in Bucharest at the moment and a new store should open in the city this summer.
“We would like to expand to 15 stores in Bucharest in the next five years, there is potential for that. We are also including the surrounding areas here, such as Corbeanca and Bragadiru, which are practically extensions of the capital city, where people from Bucharest live,” Alexandru Bratu told ZF.
“We are to open a new store in Bucharest in the Mihai Bravu area near the Kaufland hypermarket in June or July. We have already signed the contract with the owner.”
Although the plan is to have the highest density of JYSK stores in Bucharest, Alexandru Bratu admits that it takes more patience to attract consumers’ attention and see the effects of the initial investment in sales in the capital city than in any other part of the country. The main reason is competition.
JYSK has 32 stores in Romania and will continue to open stores outside Bucharest, as well. It is already in talks or has signed agreements for six stores by the end of the year.
“We are in advanced talks and even signed agreements in some cases to open two stores in Craiova, two in Iasi and one in Tulcea and Severin each by the end of the year (September 1, 2015 – August 31, 2016). I think Iasi and Craiova are areas that could accommodate even three stores in the long run.”
The retailer only looks at cities with more than 20,000 to 30,000 people to open its stores in order to ensure sustainable business, Bratu said.
The fast-paced expansion of JYSK lately is because of the plan to reach 100 stores by 2020.
“If Czech Republic has 60 to 70 JYSK stores at a population of 10 million people, I don’t see why Romania could not get to 100 within the intended time frame.”
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)