Cora changes strategy, signs for 3 new stores in four months

Cora, the fourth-largest hypermarket chain on the Romanian market, but owner of the best-performing stores in terms of sales, has radically changed its strategy and pursues a much more aggressive expansion plan, as land prices have been cut by as much as half in some cases, and shopping centre owners are willing to charge much lower rents. Cora, the network held by the Franco-Belgian group Louis Delhaize, has signed its third contract for a hypermarket opening in the last four months, after the retailer had opened only four stores between 2002 and 2010. This compares with over 20 stores in Romania held by each of its two main rivals, Carrefour and Real, with Real entering the market much later than Cora, in 2006.

This year, Cora has already opened a hypermarket in Sun Plaza shopping centre in Bucharest, where it hired 800 people, and will open another 8,000 square-metre store in Gold Plaza mall in Baia-Mare. Cora also announced yesterday it would build a hypermarket in Drobeta Turnu Severin, with the project to be developed by IBT ROM Construct. On the other hand, Carrefour, the largest player on the market, has not announced any new store openings lately.