Thus, the 12 international retailers present locally opened here almost 700 stores, half of the country’s total number of stores.
In terms of population, the ten cities hold just 20% of Romania’s total number of inhabitants, but this is where the bases of the local economy are being established.
Bucharest alone attracted one third of the overall 1,400 modern retail stores opened in Romania and retailers are further betting on the capital city not just because it is the largest city by population, but also as the average salary is 20% above the national average and the unemployment rate is among the lowest.
After Bucharest, Brasov and Constanta are the cities that have attracted the highest investments by foreign investors. The two urban centers are not among the top 3 by population, but they are the most important touristic poles after Bucharest. Each of the two cities has over 40 stores, but this accounts for just 10% of the overall number of units in Bucharest.
Ever since they entered the local market, modern retailers have focused on the urban areas, but they have in recent years also shyly tapped rural areas.
“The first international chains that entered the Romanian market were big format ones, and these cover large cities as they need a critical mass of clients to justify their investments and costs and become profitable,” explains Alexandru Vlad, general manager of Selgros.
He specifies, though, that small and medium-sized areas are now in full swing, so that in five years’ time the map of modern retail will look different.
Even though in full expansion now, supermarket and discount store chains are the ones boasting the largest networks.
Owing to the high number of stores, they dominate the country’s largest cities by the number of opened units. Thus, Mega Image dominates Bucharest, with 275 units, almost 80% of the total number of opened units. Next comes Carrefour, with just 44. At the opposite end, Profi dominates the biggest number of cities in top 10, including Cluj, Timisoara or Ploiesti.
“Retailers have been following opportunities,” says Luiza Moraru, head of Retail and Asset Services at real estate consultancy CBRE Romania.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)