Romanian Modern Retailers Opened 200 Stores In January-September
Modern retail has grown to almost 2,500 stores after retailers opened more than 200 stores in the first nine months of the year, spending over EUR100 million to EUR150 million, according to ZF estimates.
Most of them are small-format stores, supermarkets and convenience stores. Modern retail started making significant progress in 2009, the first year of financial crisis, with the number of stores going from 450 to 2,500 since.
Early in 2018, the retail chains announced plans for 300 to 350 new stores, so there is still room for growth. They opened about 60% of the ‘promised’ stores in January-September, ZF has found.
Many retailers schedule store openings for the fourth quarter, in time for the winter holidays, the most important time of the year for the retail sector.
Three out of ten networks – Metro Cash & Carry, Selgros and Cora, did not open any new store in January-September, while Profi alone inaugurated 146 small format stores.
Source: ZFenglish.com
The small format has become increasingly popular in recent years, with networks like Carrefour and Auchan diversifying to include such stores. The reason for this is that consumers prefer to do their shopping daily to buy what they need instead of stuffing their shopping carts on weekends, so convenience is one of the most important factors in the purchasing decision
