Mobexpert yesterday inaugurated its first furniture hypermarket outside Romania, following the largest Romanian investment in Bulgaria - €10 million. Currently, Romanian investments in the neighboring country total some €65 mln. Beside the current hypermarket, located in Sofia, Sucu said he plans to build a further store in the city of Varna in 2008, and in the following years two further stores, one in the Bulgarian capital and one in the city of Plovdiv.
“The second store in Sofia is necessary, since the city has two distinct development areas. There are three other furniture stores in Sofia with the same size as Mobexpert’s, but with cheap products, which is to make the difference for our company,” according to Mobexpert’s Director for Bulgaria, Ioana Silaghi, for Business Standard.
The Bulgarian furniture market is currently worth some €300 mln, less than half of the Romanian market. Four large retailers are controlling the market - Aiko, Como, Nov dom Simeonov and Aron. Products currently sold in the Bulgarian store are manufactured in Romania, but Sucu said discussions are ongoing with seven Bulgarian producers to include their offers in the store. He added he is not yet considering the purchase of al local factory or building production capacities there. Beside Bulgaria, Mobexpert also plans to expand to Serbia, with a store in Belgrade. Its office furniture division, Mobexpert Office, is operating in Belgrade since 2005.
