The hypermarket chain entered Romania in 2005 and has since expanded year by year, by opening three hypermarkets in its first year and 13 to 14 annually in its best years.
It slowed down expansion to four or five stores a year in 2015-2017, but announced stepped up expansion in 2018, when it plans to open ten hypermarkets. The number of new stores opened varies with land purchases and construction permits received. Usually Kaufland buys land in advance to make expansion easier.
“We will open stores in Bucharest, Buzau and Satu Mare in this financial year (which ends February 2018 i.e.). Next financial year we will open 10 new stores and continue investment in upgrades,” says Valer Hancas, corporate affairs and communication manager with Kaufland Romania.
Kaufland’s financial year starts on March 1 and ends on February 28.
Investment in a Kaufland store stands at EUR7 million to EUR10 million including the land, and varies with the quality of the land and area of the store to be built. Kaufland prefers to have its own stores instead of renting space. It invests EUR130 million to EUR170 million in Romania each year, having spent more than EUR1.5 billion in this country since its entry in 2005, ZF has calculated.
Now that expansion is going faster, the budget has increased, as well.
“We doubled the expansion and store network upgrade budget. We have allocated EUR200 million for 2018,” Valer Hancas says.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)