Finland’s R-Kiosk, which brought the modern-format kiosk concept in Romania in 2008, says its business on this market is still in the pilot-project phase.
“Romania is an interesting market for us, but we must admit we
still know few things about it at this moment,” stated Kalvar Kase,
International Business Director with the R-Kiosk network operated
by Rautakirka group.
The company, operating 35 kiosks domestically, has recently
announced it froze its expansion plans for Romania for at least one
year because of the difficult economic context.
“At this moment, we’re still developing our own retail concept and
researching the market and the behaviour of Romanian consumers,”
said Kalvar Kase. He chose not to specify whether the Finnish group
received any takeover bids for its Romanian network.
Last year, the retailer also intended to expand in a franchise
system, but no contract with new investors has been signed,
yet.
By freezing expansion, the Finish group is losing ground in modern
retail to Mic.Ro network developed by a company indirectly
controlled by billionaire Dinu Patriciu.