Still the information available about Gorj (SW Romania) entrepreneur Nicolae Sarcina, 42, is limited, as he is one of the lowest profile local businessmen.
Succes Nic Com, the company that he owns and uses for all his operations, is now almost eighteen years old and still manages to grow despite the difficult economy.
The name of the Gorj-based company came into the spotlight a few months ago in an announcement about the takeover of the five PIC hypermarkets previously owned by brothers Ilie and Cornel Penescu. The PIC group had closed the network of hypermarkets located in Pitesti, Craiova, Braila, Oradea and Calarasi in 2009 and 2010 as a result of the insolvency over debt put at EUR80 million to suppliers and banks.
At the time of takeover, Succes officials said they had bought all the five hypermarkets but would only reopen the one in Pitesti. It will be the largest store of the Succes network, whose largest format is a 900 square meter store in Constanta. The new stores will bear the Succes name.
Succes Nic Com started out in 1994, primarily as a wholesaler and retailer of food, beverages and tobacco, as well as of non-food products, the company’s website reveals. Its business later expanded so that it now also includes oil product trade, construction, bakery, product packaging (flour, sugar, rice and beans), wood processing and distribution, retail space, vehicle and mining equipment rental.
The Succes store chain is one of the most important operations of Succes Nic Com. The chain currently comprises 134 stores. This is the largest retail network in Romania, followed by foreign retail companies such as Penny Market (117), Lidl (107) and Profi (101).
17 of the 134 stores were opened this year; ten more could be opened by the end of the year. The company sped up development this year compared to 2010, when it only opened five stores.
Company officials say they want to expand throughout the entire country, without specifying what cities they have in mind.
Succes stores cover all retail segments from 20 square meter wholesale stands in shopping complexes to hypermarkets.
“Lately, we’ve focused our expansion only on convenience stores of over 120 square meters, supermarkets and hypermarkets,” says Catalin Calinoiu, Succes Nic Com marketing and sales manager. “We have no Succes store opened in malls because our research shows freestanding stores are more efficient.”
The company has not closed a store in its almost 18-year history, not even when it performed below expectations.
Succes stores posted about RON130 million (over EUR30 million) revenue last year, according to ZF calculations, which take into account the total revenue of the company and the share of the retail business in the total.
Success Nic Com ended 2010 with more than 1,000 employees, about 150 more than at the end of 2009. (EUR1=RON4.2843)
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu; Editing by Radu Bostan)