Cataramă, Elvila: Costs are minimal now, so it's time for investments

Businessman Viorel Cataramă, one of the most powerful entrepreneurs in the furniture industry, who controls the Elvila business, is planning to expand the store network this year, having signed rental contracts for four certain locations, and is in negotiations for another two stores.

“We made this decision because the costs of investments are the lowest possible. We tended to close small stores during the crisis. For instance in Deva we closed the store, but are opening a very big one instead, and we are doing the same in Suceava. There is a continuous movement, we are closing small stores and opening big stores,” Cataramă told Ziarul Financiar in an interview.

In March Elvila opened a 6,000 square-metre store in Bacău, in June it will open one in Focșani (4,000 square metres), in Deva in October (4,000 square metres) and in Craiova in November (3,500 square metres). The company is in advanced negotiations to open stores in Sibiu (3,000 square metres) and in Timișoara. In Timișoara, the store developed together with Altex, is set to cover 7,000 square metres and will be built by the company itself.

“A store needs a stock of merchandise worth 400,000 to 500,000 euros and needs another 100,000 euros to furnish the store, so the costs amount to at least half a million euros. We are funding this expansion using our own resources,” added Cataramă. He estimates costs are half of what they used to be in the years of economic boom.