The Carrefour network is going to open new stores at a quicker pace under the new general manager. The French want to boost their network to 30-40 stores countrywide.
The value of turnover corresponds to an increase of about 27% compared with the similar period of last year, when the company operated four stores, according to the quarterly report filed by Hyparlo, which owns and operates the stores.
Hyparlo, Carrefour”s biggest franchisee, was acquired by Carrefour late last year, with the deal approved by European competition authorities this year.
Carrefour recently has opened its sixth Romanian store in Baneasa, Bucharest, after investing approximately 28 million euros in it
The expansion by opening new hypermarkets will soon pick up speed, now that a new general manager has been appointed.
Jacobo Caller Celestino, the new general manager of the company, is a company insider and has been in charge since last month, replacing Francois Oliver who had been appointed by Hyparlo to run the company in the seven years since entering the Romanian market.
According to the company”s long-term development plan, Carrefour intends to reach six stores in Bucharest and a total of 30-40 hypermarkets countrywide.
The hypermarket chain last year derived turnover standing at 435 million euros on the Romanian market, with income amounting to more than five million euros. Carrefour hypermarkets have been present on the Romanian market since 2001, when the first store was opened in the western part of the capital city. Since then, the company that owns the Carrefour franchise in Romania has opened another five stores, in Bucharest, Brasov and Ploiesti, investing close to 200 million euros.
Other stores are going to be opened in the future in Bucharest and Constanta, as well as in other major cities such as Cluj, Iasi and Craiova.
The only direct competitor of Carrefour in the hypermarkets sector in Romania is another French group, Cora, which owns two stores in Bucharest, with the latest opened in the Lujerului area.
Cora”s estimates for last year”s turnover pointed to a value of 150-170 million euros and the group will this year open a store in Cluj, the first Cora store outside Bucharest.
Another player in the hypermarket sector is Real, which is a unit of Germany”s Metro group. Real entered the market this year, opening the first store this spring in Timisoara.
Other companies are also entering the market.
Auchan is currently building its first store, with the expansion of the French network to be coordinated by the former head of Cora network. The first store will be located in the southeastern part of the capital city, and the company is going to add at least two stores per year. ionut.bonoiu@zf.ro