They spent EUR130 million to EUR180 million, according to ZF’s calculations, to bring the number of modern retail stores to almost 1,700.
For the first time in years, however, Mega Image was no longer the expansion champion, losing the position to supermarket chain Profi, held by Polish private equity firm Enterprise Investors.
Profi ended the year with 367 stores in various formats and brands, 92 more than it had at the end of 2014. Profi announced its 2015 expansion pace would be at least similar to 2014’s, or more than 70 stores, possibly even more than 100 supermarkets and convenience stores. The company wants to continue at the same rate in 2016.
With the more than 90 stores it opened last year, Profi accounts for almost half of the openings in modern retail in 2015. Right behind it was Mega Image, which ended the year with 471 stores compared with 410 on December 31, 2014. It had initially announced it would continue at the same pace as in the previous year, more than 100 stores, adding that most of them would be the smaller Shop&Go’s, because the suitable space for supermarkets had almost run out. The expansion did not proceed at the expected pace, though. The retailer also closed some stores, three of which located in seismically weak buildings.
Profi and Mega Image opened more than 150 of the almost 200 new modern retail stores together. Four of the 12 modern retail networks did not open any stores. Auchan opened only one hypermarket, and supermarket chain Billa opened only one store, as well. Billa, however, was in talks to sell its Romanian operation to Carrefour for the past eighteen months, concluding negotiations in December 2015, when Carrefour took over the 86 supermarkets. The deal needs Competition Council’s approval to become effective.
Carrefour continued expansion in Romania on all its formats (hypermarkets, supermarkets and convenience stores), investing EUR30 million to EUR40 million in the process, according to ZF estimates.
Local modern retail leader Kaufland was the biggest investor, again, having allocated a EUR35 million to EUR50 million budget for expansion. It only inaugurated five of the seven to nine stores it had set out to, though.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)