“We will definitely exceed last year’s revenue, we estimate about 10% to 15% growth for our business,” Cornelia Nicolae, country manager of Stefanel, said on ZF Live.
The fashion brand, which targets above average income customers, entered Romania soon after the fall of the communist regime when other companies in the fashion industry like Zara and H&M were not even considering the country.
Stefanel is not a mass-market business, so it does not rely on large sales volumes and a high number of customers, but rather on ensuring the loyalty of those it already has. The customers of the Italian fashion label may spend as much as EUR6,000 per season in Romania, Cornelia Nicolae says.
The average cash receipt of a Stefanel customer is 1,000 lei (EUR226).
“I managed to keep the brand on the same premium segment it has always been positioned on.”
Product prices are not a factor when customers choose what to buy, Cornelia Nicolae says. “When they first walk into a store they see the product, its color, cut, fabric and then look at the price.”
Stefanel has 13 stores operational in Romania, eight of which in Bucharest alone.
“We stepped up expansion this year and opened three new stores in Sibiu, Cluj and in Bucharest, in Mega Mall.”
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)