Home appliances sales influenced by Romanians working abroad

Sales of stores operated by Domo Retail, the second largest electronics and home appliances retailer in Romania, were influenced in August by the budgets of Romanians working abroad who usually return home in the last month of summer.
“In mid-August the contribution of Romanians working abroad was felt in the market revival, but it did not amount to the 2007-2008 level. In the past week one could see that they returned to their adoptive countries, and our daily sales fell,” said Lorand Szarvadi, CEO and shareholder of Domo Retail.
The company posted 15% lower sales in July compared with the similar period of 2009. “July was catastrophic for us because of the VAT hike: sales were 15% down on the year-ago period. In August sales rebounded, so in July-August we reached last year’s level, which is acceptable considering that public sector employees received their first reduced pay slip,” Szarvadi specified.