Romania's retail market becomes more dynamic

Romania's retail market is becoming more and more dynamic, given that new hypermarkets are to be opened in the capital Bucharest and other cities, the Romanian Rompres news agency reported on Tuesday.

According to Rompres, the growth pace of Carrefour will speed up since the company will open at least three shops per year. Carrefour will inaugurate this autumn the 7th hypermarket in Romania, in the coastal city Constanta.

Louis Delhaize Group, owner of Cora hypermarket chain, will inaugurate in the north-western city Cluj-Napoca a hypermarket in which it invested 21 million euros (about 27.9 million U.S. dollars).

Kaufland, with a network of 11 stores, will open a new store next week in north-eastern city Suceava on an investment of 8 million euros (10.34 million dollars). Kaufland has planned to have some 15 stores by end-2006, according to Gunter Grieb, director general of Kaufland Romania.

This year, French group Auchan will open its first store in Bucharest. The shopping center, with an investment of 40 million euros (51.2 million dollars), will have 70 stores. According to the company's officials, as of 2007, two hypermarkets will be opened yearly both in Bucharest and other important cities.

A new retailer brand will appear this month in the north- western city Arad. It is about Dutch Spar, which will inaugurate afterwards other six supermarkets and hypermarkets in central and western Romania.

The real brand Real will become ever more visible, too. It is to open five units in the coming months of this year and by the end of 2007, the company will have a chain of 15 stores.

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