The most important opening on Thursday is Leroy Merlin’s do-it-yourself store located in Bucharest’s Chitila district. This is the first store the French company opens in Romania, while Cluj and Timisoara will see apparel stores opening the same day, followed by a new supermarket in Brasov on Friday.
Leroy Merlin, the world’s fourth leading DIY network by sales, invested about EUR6 million in the 17,000 square meter store on Chitila road, in a space rented from the owner of the Colosseum retail park, Panico Panayi, for about EUR2 million a year.
Two apparel stores, New Look and H&M are due to open in Cluj on Thursday, in rival malls Polus Center and Iulius Mall.
New Look arrived in Romania as a franchise operated by Genco Trade, which invsted EUR600,000 in the 470 square meter store in Cluj.
H&M, on the other hand, has two stores scheduled for opening on Thursday, one in Iulius Mall in Cluj and the other in Iulius Mall in Timisoara. The company did not provide any information on the costs involved in the opening a store, but they should be close to EUR1 million, including stocks.
These openings take the New Look network to three stores in one month, and H&M’s to eight in six months.
After twelve years on the Romanian market, German-held retailer Billa will open a 435-square meter supermarket in Brasov on Friday. The new store will employ 40 people and will be retailer’s second in the city and its 56th in the country. Billa’s sales stood at EUR271 million last year.
Store openings will pick up the pace in October and November, when several large shopping centers are scheduled to open.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu; Editing by Radu Bostan)