The General Manager of Billa Romania, Sorana Georgia, stated that "we will soon open in Pipera and two more store opening are planned before the end of the year. Next year, we will continue with a double-digit expansion."
Since the beginning of the year, Billa has opened five new stores, reaching a total of 84 supermarkets.
Sorana Georgia also stated that business has been thriving in 2014. The general manager of Billa says that the brand "It's good, it's Romanian", which is used for vegetables and fruit of Romanian origin, has made a very important contribution to this development. In 2013, the retailer had a profit of 2.17 million Lei (493,000 Euro), down 40% from the previous year, but turnover increased by 7.3% to 1.35 billion Lei (307 million Euro).
"We increased the budget for this project. We work with 15 producers and quantities vary from a few boxes to 50-70 tonnes per delivery. We are going to expand now with dairy and meat products, focusing on categories that are important to our customers," said Sorana Georgia.
She added that over 70% of turnover is generated by products of Romanian origin (Romanian and international manufacturers with facilities in the local market) and the company's goal is for this share to increase to 100%.
Billa has been present in Romania since February 1999, when it opened its first supermarket in Bucharest, and has over 3,500 employees. In Romania, Rewe also owns Penny Market and XXL Mega Discount.
