Praktiker investments reach €240 mln

“Praktiker Romania will maintain rapid expansion as a development priority in 2008 throughout the country. At present this means an annual average rhythm of 4-5 new store openings. For each new store, the company invests on average €8-10 million,” according to a declaration for NewsIn by its General Manager Guenter Vosskaemper.

There are currently 20 Praktiker stores throughout the country, and is the most widely-spread on the DIY market. The company’s total cumulated investments since the beginning of its activities are now worth some €190 mln. In the long-term Praktiker is planning to have over 30 units, within a 2-3-year period, and be present in all cities with over 120,000 inhabitants.

Praktiker Romania posted an increase in sales at the end of 2007 of over 60 percent, amounting to €251.4 mln. In terms of like-for-like growth, the company’s sales were 21.5 percent higher than in 2006.

A new DIY entrant onto the Romanian market, OBI, estimates the value of the market at €2 billion.