G”market supermarket network (the former Gima) projects sales worth 45 million euros for this year, as it is going to reach 5 stores.
“We currently have five options for cities located very close to Bucharest or in its vicinity. We are going to select one or two locations over the following weeks,” Erol Inaltekin, marketing manager with Gimrom Holding, the company operating G”market supermarkets, told ZF.
The company operates four stores in Bucharest and Iasi, while a fifth one could be opened in August, according to Inaltekin. “We estimate sales worth 45 million euros for this year, considering we will open another store,” said Gimrom Holding official.
By comparison, the four supermarkets of Bucharest and Iasi reported sales standing at 40 million euros for last year, about 60% higher year-on-year. Last year”s solid sales growth overlapped with an important strategic move. Since last autumn, the company has gone through a rebranding process that involved a name change from Gima to G”market.
Gimrom Holding”s decision came four months after French group Carrefour bought from Fiba all Gima stores in Turkey. The stores operating in Romania were not included in the deal. With a presence of more than six years in Romania, since the opening of Bucuresti Mall, Gima supermarket network was one of the first international players to have emerged on the market. Still, unlike other rivals, the network had both growth periods, as well as periods when it closed some stores. Thus, the first Gima supermarket was opened in September 1999, in Bucuresti Mall, both Gima, and the commercial centre being owned by Fiba Turkish group. The solid figures registered by the store, turnover worth 6.5 million dollars in just several months, made the officials opt for a rapid expansion in the next year, opening a store in the Prisma shopping complex and another one in Iulius Mall of Iasi.
From its three supermarkets, Gimrom Holding in 2000 derived turnover worth above 27 million euros, according to Finance Ministry data.
The fourth Gima supermarket was opened in Galeria Mall in Constanta, in mid-2001, but it was closed the following year, together with the one in Prisma. Gima network resumed its expansion in 2004, when two stores were opened, in Bucur Obor area of Bucharest and inside Plaza Romania commercial complex. The stores of Bucuresti Mall and Plaza Romania last year posted the highest sales per square metre, according to officials.
The main rivals of G”market on the Romanian market are mainly international groups, such as Rewe (owner of Billa supermarket network and XXL Mega Discount! discounter network) or Delhaize Le Lion (which in 2000 bought Mega Image supermarket network). Supermarket networks set up by Romanian or foreign entrepreneurs such as La Fourmi, Univers”all or Artima are also boasting a strong presence domestically.
G”market network
* Made an important strategic move, going through a rebranding process, changing its name from Gima to G”market
* For this year forecasts sales worth 45m euros, as it will expand to 5 stores
* Operates four stores in Bucharest and Iasi, with a fifth one likely to be opened in August
* The 4 supermarkets last year reported sales worth 40m euros, up 60% year-on-year
* Was one of the first international players to arrive in Romania.