The ranking of Romania’s biggest retailers by 2012 revenue is thus dominated by filling station networks, which outran hypermarket, supermarket and discounter chains though the latter have thousands or even tens of thousands products on their shelves, mainly food items. Moreover, Sensiblu or Dona pharmacy chains entered the ranking on the 16 and 17 position, overshooting international DIY networks Praktiker and Bricostore.
In 2013, Romanians spent 136 billion lei on food, furniture, electrical home appliances, garments, cosmetics or fuel, with the bulk of the money (36.2 of the total) going to non-food items. However, almost 30% of the money Romanians spent in 2013 went to fuel, compared to 35% to food. This cost structure is different in Romania compared with Western states, as salaries are higher there than Romanian ones, while prices are often similar.
In this context, food or fuel expenses weigh lower in the total in the West.
“Romania and Bulgaria are probably the only markets where main expenses (on food and fuel) hold such high weights in the overall shopping budget. Cars cost Romanians a lot and this can be seen in the expenditure structure,” says economic analyst Aurelian Dochia.
Sums spent on fuel are likely to rise as gas in Romania, Europe’s fifth oil producer covering 40% of domestic demand, is more expensive than in Austria or Luxembourg, among the richest states in the EU, but poorer in resources. When it comes to diesel oil, Romania is among the top ten states by price. Though prices are similar, Romania’s average salary is five-six times lower than in the West,
As a matter of fact, food prices are often aligned to Western ones, while salaries lag behind.
Selgros Cash&Carry and Metro Cash&Carry, networks with revenue of around RON4 billion and RON5 billion in 2012, are not included in the ranking as they do not have retail activities. Lidl is not included in the ranking, either, as it did not publish its 2012 figures. According to ZF data, Lidl would be positioned seventh.
The biggest retailers’ ranking includes four filling station networks, five food chains and a DIY retailer. Dedeman, ranking eighth, is in fact the only Romanian company among the top 10.
Pharmacies, among the largest tenants in Bucharest’s street-front retail, have in recent years strengthened their positions in domestic retail, and chains such as Sensiblu (over 400 units) or Dona (230 units) outrunning, by sales, DIY networks such as Praktiker or Bricostore.
As a matter of fact, by value, drug retail (EUR2.3 billion) tops the sales operated by the over 100 large DIY stores in Romania (EUR2 billion).
While the shareholders of major pharmacy networks are set to expand further this year and announce around 100 new units according to previous estimates, in DIY retail 2014 is the year of major changes.
Britain’s Kingfisher, which took over Bricostore units, have started turning the stores under the Brico Depot brand and Praktiker sold its Romanian operations to Turkish investor Omer Susli.
BauMax and Obi are also for sale, according to market information, while the only player that maintains its expansion plans is Dedeman Bacau, the largest Romanian retailer, which hit sales of EUR606 million last year, with 6,700 employees and 37 stores at present.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)