“We are currently the largest network in Romania, with 65 stores in 55 towns, and we plan on opening five more stores by year-end, thus consolidating our position in the discount store segment,” said Norbert Missbrandt, General Manager of Plus Romania. Thus, Plus is surpassing companies such as Profi and Penny Market, which have 50 stores each, and Kaufland.
Profi, part of the French-Belgian Louis Delhaize group, that currently has 51 units, (according to Business Standard estimates), and Penny Market (with 50 stores), are the company’s main competitors.
The Romanian retail market is the second-largest in Central and Eastern Europe, with a value of €40 billion in 2007, which is to exceed €100 bln by 2010, according to market data. There are over 200 stores presently operating on the discount segment.
Plus has so far invested €150 million in the expansion of its Romania network. Plus Discount Romania posted €126.5 mln in turnover in the fiscal year that ended on 30 April 2007, a fourfold year-on-year increase. The company’s management announced it might postpone investments in Germany due to the impact of the financial crisis, but will continue to develop on Eastern European markets.
