Profi rebrands Albinuta network and plans further expansion in Bucharest

Discount food retailer Profi will this year launch the rebranding of the Albinuta network in Bucharest, which it took over last year from Lithuanian company Maxima LT for 7.5 million euros. The nine Albinuta stores will change their name to Profi and Caius Crisan, general manager of Profi Rom Food expects rebranding investments to range between 1 and 2 million euros. He also says the project will extend over a six or seven-month period. At the same time, the retailer is planning an expansion onto the Bucharest market, where it has invested around half a million euros this year in the opening of the first Profi store, with a sales area of 700 square metres. Crisan also specifies that the network is planning to use the same store format for expansion, a store with a sales area of around 600-700 square metres. Last year, Profi Rom Food, operator of the Profi network, posted a 65.5 million-euro turnover, up 47% against the 2006 figure, according to data reported by the company to the Ministry of Finance. In 2007, the operator reported 1.4 million euros in financial losses, after having turned a profit in the previous year.