McDonald's set to double number of restaurants

The domestic market provides all the necessary conditions for McDonald’s to reach a number of 100 restaurants in Romania, from its current 52, McDonald’s representatives believe.
“Romania has huge potential and we consider the current number of outlets to be insufficient. McDonald’s Romania will be able to operate 100 outlets on medium term (5-7 years i.e.),” stated Cristian Savu, communications manager with McDonald’s Romania.
According to McDonald’s medium-sized cities in Romania have recently reached the potential the company was predicting. At the same time, the decision to embark on a new development stage was based on the rising purchasing power of Romanian consumers, adds Cristian Savu.
According to some previous statements issued by the company, investments in a McDonald’s outlet may range between 800,000 and 2 million euros, depending on the size and location of the outlet.
With this in mind, so far the value of investments McDonald’s has operated on the domestic market can be estimated at around 80 million euros. Doubling the number of outlets would take the company’s total investments to 160 million euros.
Regarding the company’s development plans for this year, McDonald’s Romania officials have stated that they plan to open a further four outlets.
“I cannot provide details of specific locations because the market is highly competitive. For a few years, I’ve noticed Romanians are attracted to hypermarkets and shopping centres and I believe this trend will remain constant over the following years; as a result such locations are always of interest to us. At the same time, we are considering traditional locations, such as inside established buildings or outlets positioned at independent locations,” explained Cristian Savu, McDonald’s communications manager.
McDonald’s operates the biggest chain of fast-food restaurants on the domestic market and last year registered a turnover standing at 67 million euros.
The main competitors of McDonald’s on the domestic fast food market are KFC, Pizza Hut, Gregory’s and Spring Time.