Jolidon to overshoot 13m euro mark

Cluj-based Jolidon, a company that makes underwear and bathing suits has announced the opening of its second shop in France, in Lyon, which will become operational as of February 15.

Jolidon is one of the few apparel factories in Romania that has strongly developed a Romanian brand, making a name for its products on the Western market.

At the moment, it has three branches abroad, in Hungary, Italy and France. The first foreign office was opened in Budapest in 2000, and operates as Jolidon Hungary Kft. A year later, Jolidon set up Jolidon Italia Sarl in Milan and opened Jolidon France Sarl in Paris in 2003.

Besides the three countries, Jolidon also exports to destinations such as Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Slovenia, Croatia, Poland, Russia, US, Canada, Japan, South Africa, Lebanon or Israel.

Jolidon Cluj concluded last year with 13.3 million euro turnover, up nearly 10% compared with the previous year. This year’s forecast points to growth compared with 2004 due to the increase in the number of domestic orders and to the expansion on the foreign markets.

“The wish to make a name for Jolidon on the international markets led to a constant growth in sales, for which reason we believe revenues will be higher this year compared with last year, as well. A first sign of this came from the existing orders for the spring/summer collections, for bathing suits and for the autumn/winter collections,” Jolidon official said.

The company officials did not care to reveal the value of the investments, yet specified they had targeted the upgrade of the factory in Cluj, the purchase equipment and computer programmes for design purposes, as well as the opening of the office in Paris.

The lingerie maker saw its sales grow constantly. Its acquisition of Argos Cluj last year turned Jolidon into the largest maker of lingerie and bathing suits in Romania.

Jolidon’s sole owner is Gabriel Carlig, who established the company 11 years ago. There are more than 1,000 stores selling the products of the Cluj-based factory in Romania at the moment.
transilvania@zf.ro