R-Kiosk: Romanian market still an unknown for us

Finland’s R-Kiosk, which brought the modern-format kiosk concept in Romania in 2008, says its business on this market is still in the pilot-project phase.

“Romania is an interesting market for us, but we must admit we still know few things about it at this moment,” stated Kalvar Kase, International Business Director with the R-Kiosk network operated by Rautakirka group.
The company, operating 35 kiosks domestically, has recently announced it froze its expansion plans for Romania for at least one year because of the difficult economic context.
“At this moment, we’re still developing our own retail concept and researching the market and the behaviour of Romanian consumers,” said Kalvar Kase. He chose not to specify whether the Finnish group received any takeover bids for its Romanian network.
Last year, the retailer also intended to expand in a franchise system, but no contract with new investors has been signed, yet.
By freezing expansion, the Finish group is losing ground in modern retail to Mic.Ro network developed by a company indirectly controlled by billionaire Dinu Patriciu.