La Fourmi expects sales to go up 20%

La Fourmi, one of the first supermarket chains established on the Romanian market after 1990, estimates to sell more than 15 million euros’ worth this year, that is nearly 20% higher compared with the about 13 million euros posted last year. The profit projections for this year are similar to 2001, more than 120,000 euros.
The company last week opened its eighth store in the Pipera area, under a nearly $500,000 investment. “The store is located in the heart of the residential area in Pipera, so its prospects are very good,” Riad Hijal, chief financial officer of the company said.
The new store brings the company’s investments this year up to $800,000, given that the offices and part of the production and storage operations will be relocated to the new premises taking up some 6,000 sqm on the Dambovita peer in close proximity of the Romanian and Bucharest Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
“This is where our headquarters will be, as well as a kitchen and a central high-capacity butchery. We will also handle packing of the products we import here and will have a high-capacity storage facility,” Hijal added. He estimates this investment to amount to several hundred thousand dollars.
The company is to open two more stores in Bucharest next year, with the total investments scheduled to exceed one million dollars.
“We are also planning to open a store outside Bucharest, but I cannot yet tell whether we will do it at the end of next year or early in 2004. We are, however, planning to open 6 new stores by 2006,” the La Fourmi official says.
Hijal says opening a 400-500 sqm store usually costs $300-$350,000 on the average, with the investment exceeding $450 – $500,000 in the case of an over 600 sqm store.
La Fourmi entered the Romanian market in 1993, when it opened its first store in the 1 Mai area.
The stores that followed next were opened in the 13 Septembrie (1996), Unirea, Mosilor, Ramnicu Sarat, Camil Ressu, Grivita and Pipera areas. The number of employees has exceeded 400.