Praktiker to double sales thanks to new stores

The Do-It-Yourself chain Praktiker, which is owned by German Metro Group, expects to double its sales on the Romanian market this year after it opens three new stores in a 35 million euro investment.

“The three locations have already been selected, and work is in progress in Constanta and Oradea, though we haven’t begun construction in Craiova yet,” Guenter Vosskaemper, Praktiker Romania’s chief executive, told Ziarul Financiar.

He says the stores on which work has begun will open in the first half of the year, while the Craiova store will open in the second half.

“We are focusing both on other cities and on Bucharest at the moment,” Vosskaemper said.

Praktiker Romania currently has 7 stores and generated more than 63 million euros in sales last year.

“Sales went up by 45 million euros compared with 2003 (18.8 million euros according to the Finance Ministry website) following the opening of 3 new stores last year that did better than expected. This year we will boost sales by about another 60 million euros. I am positive we will introduce some completely new projects this year,” Vosskaemper added.

Praktiker opened its first store in Romania in the autumn of 2002 on a site in close proximity to the Metro Cash & Carry store in Voluntari. Since then the DIY division of the German giant Metro has opened 3 stores per year as part of its stated aim of reaching 15 stores.

The three-store-a-year pace is faster than that of its main competitor on the domestic market, French Bresson Group, which announced a growth rate of two stores per year.

Bricostore has two stores in Bucharest and will open its first store outside the capital this year, close to Carrefour’s Brasov hypermarket.

Unlike Bricostore, Praktiker’s strategy does not involve the construction of DIY stores. Instead they subcontract the work to contractors who realise most of the investment at a given location, with Praktiker remaining a tenant on the site and only intervening during the final stages after construction is complete to apply the finishing touches. ionut.bonoiu@zf.ro