Germanos to open 80 new stores in 2008

Telecom equipment retailer Germanos, owned by Greek mobile phone operator Cosmote, plans to open 80 new stores by the end of this year. The company currently has 206 stores and is operating for 11 years on the Romanian market.
The company's targets an aggressive presence in small cities, with less than 30,000-35,000 inhabitants. Last year, the company opened 71 stores, of which 24 located in small cities, said Aris Karusos, Retail General Manager Germanos.
Some15 percent of the Germanos network is in franchise system. This percentage could increase this year due to higher interest of investors for the Germanos business.
The second-largest player on the GSM retail market is Fonomat, Orange partner, created through the merger of three smaller retailers, Dasimpex, Plus GSM and GSM Land.