Iași store drives Cezar Rapotan's DIY network back to growth in just three months

The opening of a store in Iași in March brought a 6% sales increase to Mr. Bricolage retailer domestically in the first half, according to a company report.

The DIY network is controlled by Cezar Rapotan, the owner of Arabesque, the biggest building materials distributor on the market.
On the other hand, the retailer’s two older stores, located in Bucharest and Pitești, saw their turnovers slide by 11% in the same period.
Sales generated by the Iași store in the first three months of operations could be put at over 1-1.5m euros, taking into account the operator reached 16m-euro sales.
Brico Expert, the operator of the three Mr. Bricolage stores domestically, registered a 18% sales decline in the first quarter against the same period of 2009, the retailer’s report also shows.
The Iași store was the only expansion project the retailer controlled by Rapotan finalised this year. Investments in it stood at 7m euros and the opening had been initially scheduled for 2009, together with another expansion project in Buzău.