They will spend EUR150 million to EUR200 million to have about ten more hypermarkets and over 65 supermarkets and discount stores opened just in time for the winter holidays season.
The first eight months of this year were good for smaller stores such as supermarkets and discount stores.
The only large format (hypermarket and cash&carry store) operator to have opened stores in the first eight months was Kaufland. This may be because such an opening takes more time, an up to 20 times higher investment and a plot of land to match. Permits may take months to secure, too.
Kaufland operates a 75 discount hypermarket network. Moreover, its stores are smaller than those of hypermarket competitors Carrefour, Real, Auchan and Cora, which is one of the reasons why it is more aggressive in its expansion. It has opened four hypermarkets since the beginning of the year.
Kaufland officials, some of the lowest-profile in their industry, would not provide details about the company’s expansion plans or its revenue. According to ZF’s estimates, the German-held retailer took the lead of the local trade ranking, with EUR1.35 billion in revenue.
Market sources say it has more openings planned for 2012 so as to reach a total of 10 or 12 new stores this year, progressing at about the same pace as in 2010 and 2011 (13 store in each of the two years).
The same sources say Kaufland aims for 100 hypermarkets in Romania by the spring of 2014, when its fiscal 2013-2014 ends.
Other than Kaufland, none of the six large format players has opened any stores this year. Some of them preferred to wait for the end of the year to do it, while others decided against it.
“We will not open any new store this year,” says Alexandru Vlad, chief executive of the 19-store cash&carry chain Selgros. He explained the decision had not been caused by the latest political developments because openings are planned a long time ahead.
According to ZF information, Real hypermarket chain does not any new store planned, either.
“Our future store openings depend on the construction phases of the malls whose anchors they are,” says Adriana Pita, Real’s communication director.
Auchan and Cora, however, will inaugurate one and two hypermarkets, which will require a total of EUR50 million to EUR60 million investments.
On the other hand, Carrefour has not announced any concrete plans for this segment where it has a 25-hypermarket network. Still, it expanded on the small format segment, where it has a supermarket chain and a convenience store chain. The officials of the company that numbers 90 stores on all three formats have recently announced they will continue expansion this year without specifying how many stores they plan to open.
Most ambitious plans this year, however, are those of small format retailers, such as Mega Image, Profi and Lidl. Mega Image has opened more than 45 stores since the beginning of the year and has 30-35 scheduled by yearend, according to ZF data. This makes it the most active retailer. Its investments should amount to EUR50 million by yearend.
This year’s investment plans may have been given a boost by the consumer spending rebound after three years of decline. Consumer spending, the economy’s growth driver during the boom years, rose by more than 4% in the first half.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)
| Company | No of stores currently | No of stores in late 2011 | Planned openings by end of 2012 | Planned store opening investments (million euros) |
| Mega Image | 151 | 105 | 30-35 | 20 |
| Lidl Romania | 143 | 129 | 17 | 17 |
| Penny Market | 135 | 128 | 7 | 7 |
| Profi | 129 | 108 | 10 | 5 |
| Carrefour | 90 | 70 | N/A | N/A |
| Kaufland | 75 | 71 | 7-8 | 50-80 |
| Billa | 66 | 61 | 5 | 5-10 |
| Metro Cash&Carry | 32 | 32 | N/A | N/A |
| Real | 24 | 25 | 0 | 0 |
| Selgros Cash&Carry | 19 | 19 | 0 | 0 |
| Interex | 12 | 12 | N/A | N/A |
| Cora | 8 | 8 | 2 | 30-40 |
| Auchan | 10 | 9 | 1 | 20 |
| Total | 894 | 777 | 79-85 | 154-199 |
Source: ZF, companies