Gabriel Cirlig, owner of Jolidon, one of Romania”s main clothing companies, will focus on the development of the retail network this year.
The development policy to be followed this year by Jolidon Cluj, the lingerie producer, is structured along three well-defined directions.
“First, we will develop the segment of stores, increasing their number by about 50%, which means we will have about 70 stores by yearend. This is closely related to the increasing number of malls and commercial galleries across the country. The second development line is linked to the opening of a network of around 20 stores in France, under a franchise system. Last but not least, we will open Jolidon Germany, to be added to our three foreign units: Jolidon France, Jolidon Hungary and Jolidon Italy,” said Gabriel Cirlig, general manager and owner of Jolidon.
According to Cirlig, opening a store entails investments ranging between 50,000 and 100,000 euros. The Cluj-based company has already developed home design and construction units in parallel, which helps push costs lower.
“We are doing exceedingly well on a shrinking European market. What we are offering is a symbiosis between product creation and manufacture, while most brands are dealing with a split between the two segments after having relocated production to the Chinese market or having outsourced it,” stated the general manager of Jolidon.
Due to investment plans for 2006, the company”s official estimates Jolidon will reach turnover worth 26-30 million euros at yearend, after having posted sales worth 20 million euros in 2005.
“Profit accounted for about 10% of turnover, but it is almost entirely used to develop the company and its image,” said the businessman.
Although he feels it is difficult to assess the Romanian lingerie market, Cirlig says Jolidon is the undisputed leader of the domestic market, despite coping with black market problems.
“We have a chain of 45 stores we own in the main cities and commercial centres of Romania and we deliver to many others. Even though there are no official statistical data, we likely cover about 40-50% of the Romanian lingerie market, according to our estimates. We are the top company and the competition is a long way behind us,” says Gabriel Cirlig.