The company is investigating three possible locations for its new store, to be decided shortly, since the construction of a store takes up to 14 months, according to Ikea Romania’s Retail Manager, Cornel Oprisan.
Ikea launched its 2008 catalog yesterday, whose price tage was €1.3 million for 950,000 copies. The three-week distribution campaign will begin next week. “The 2008 Ikea catalog will be distributed in Bucharest and neighboring areas, as well as Pitesti, Targoviste, Urziceni, Ploiesti, all the way to Comarnic. We will distribute all 950,000 catalogs to these areas,” added Oprisan. The catalog presents 3,000 of the 7,000 products in the store, whose prices will be 12 percent lower than current prices. This discount is possible owing to optimization of the company’s logistical routes, and a better estimate of sales volume, according to company officials. The new prices will go into effect as of September 1. By August 2008, the company will also update some 25 percent of its range of products.
Oprisan has a much more optimistic view of the Romanian furniture market than that of the Romanian Furniture Manufacturers Association (APMR), which predicted a market increase of only 5-8 percent. According to Ikea’s Manager, the rise will be 12-16 percent, or some €700 million, which could lead other international players to enter the market. Austrian retail Kika announced this spring that it would open a store in Bucharest. Present market leaders are Mobexpert and Elvila, with more than €160 million worth of annual turnover.
