Real hypermarket kick-starts expansion in South Bucharest

Real, a company held by German group Metro, will open its first hypermarket in the Berceni district of Bucharest this week, following investments estimated by ZF to be worth over 25 million euros. The move will be followed by the launch a similar-size store belonging to French retailer Carrefour, as well as by a Cora store in the same Southern district of Bucharest, projects which will be completed in 2009. Real and Carrefour are the only hypermarket networks to have announced new stores this year in Bucharest. The battle is now fought in districts that have so far lacked such forms of retail, Vitan and Berceni, and, as of next year, major retail operators in the field could focus their interest on areas where competition is nonexistent on this segment. One such example could be residential district Cotroceni, where Real will open a store in a mall scheduled for completion in 2009.