Best Computers, a retailer of IT equipment and software, is changing strategy. It wants to move from an intensive to an extensive growth and double the turnover in the process.
Best Computers, one of the leading players on the domestic computer retail market, intends to open ten more stores outside Bucharest this year, in the ten largest cities in the country. Known as a company that has grown intensively, based on its own resources, until now, Best Computers will resort to bank funding to expand its network of stores this year. It is currently in talks with a series of Romanian banks. “The opening of a store, with everything there is to it, from arranging it to transporting merchandise there entails an over 100,000 euro investment,” Teo Paduraru, one of the company shareholders specified.
Best Computers’ first “trip” to the provinces took place last year when it opened the shop in Braila. “Which was a complete success in spite of our cautiousness in tapping into the market outside Bucharest until that moment,” Teo Paduraru says. The opening of the ten new stores could lead to a 100% growth in the company’s turnover.
Best Computers made $9.3 million revenues in 2003, up 50% from 2002.
The development was largely made possible by the new line of business embraced. Best Computers began assembling and selling PCs not only through its own stores but also through retail chains like Flanco or Altex. “We built and sold 25,000 computers this way in 2003,” Paduraru added.
The expansion of the company to the rest of the country could make it attractive to investors.
“We’re not ruling out the sale of part of the company. It is worth several million dollars, but not above ten million,” Best Computers’ official said. Best Computers is not included among the top five PC sellers by research company IDC, and probably falls into the “others” category. The fifth place at the end of Q4 (in terms of number of PCs sold) went to IBM with 7% market share and Comrace (in terms of value) with 6.5%. The “others” category comprises more than 50% of the market.
Best Computers is part of the Best Group that made $13.5 million turnover last year.
The group also comprises Best Distribution, a distributor of video games and consoles, Best Internet Security – an IT security solutions provider and Best Soft Expert software firm.
Best Distribution doubled turnover from one to two million euros last year, with the number of original games sold by the company having gone up from the 3,800 in 1998 to 131,000 in 2003. Best Internet Security saw its turnover increase by 63% in 2003 from 2002 and hopes it would grow by 120% this year.
iuliana.susanu@zf.ro