The company will invest more than EUR20 million in stores alone in 2017. The retailer will concentrate on big cities and especially Bucharest.
“We now have 210 stores in Romania, about 10% of which in Bucharest. Bucharest is the most important city by population and purchasing power, so there is still room for expansion,” says Frank Wagner, 43, the executive who runs Lidl’s operations in Romania.
The purchasing power in Bucharest may be double as high as in the rest of the country, which is why the city is the most important expansion center for Lidl and for other companies, he added.
As the purchasing power improves, Lidl will also go to smaller cities, the German executive says. Lidl entered Romania in 2011 when it bought Plus discount store chain, which had 107 stores at the time and about EUR380 million sales. It then grew to 210 stores and EUR1.25 billion sales in 2016.
Business was very good in 2016 and the first three months of this financial year (Lidl’s year starts on March 1) are encouraging. VAT cut had a significant contribution last year, so even though the retailer will see growth in 2017, it will not be as high as last year, Frank Wagner added.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)