Auchan Romania Director confirms wide scale collaboration with Petrom | Progresiv
Ionut Ardeleanu, General Director of Auchan Retail Romania (photo) confirmed for Progresiv the launch of a pilot project with Petrom gas stations chain, stating that it is part of Auchan Romania’s plan to become a multichannel and multiformat company. 
"This large scale cooperation, which will start with a calibration pilot project is part of the ambition of Auchan to be a multichannel and multiformat company and, in this context, we are pleased to have OMV-Petrom, a flagship and prestigious company for Romania, with a common goal: satisfied customers. Through this project we bring Auchan difference closer to all Romanians thanks to tailored product and service ranges, favorable prices and unique purchase experience", said Ardeleanu.
"One of the directions aimed with our strategy is to improve the experience of the clients in the stations. Our goal is for stations to become "one stop points", places where customers can find in one place, quality fuels, comprehensive services and stores with a wide offer. In this direction, we are in advanced discussions with Auchan to open stores in Petrom stations", said representatives of OMV Petrom.
Through this project, Auchan Romania will open – most probably in 2017 – several supermarkets in Petrom filling stations. The French chain director did not disclose the locations or dates of the first such Auchan supermarket inaugurations in Romania.
The company announced in 2014 their intention to enter the supermarket segment in Romania. "We think of a store format ranged between hypermarket and convenience store. We want it to be a very convenient sotre in terms of time spent at shopping for younger customers with a busy life rhythm", said at the end of 2014, Frederic Bellon, former CEO Auchan Romania.
On the more developed markets in Europe, Auchan already operates for some years in the supermarkets and convenience stores segment. The most developed chains are Simply Market and A2Pas, both originally released in France. Currently, the retailer is working on launching Auchan Supermarché banner in France, through the rebranding of existing supermarkets.
In Romania, Auchan chain includes 33 hypermarkets with a sales area totaling 280,000 square meters.
Petrom is the largest fuel distribution chain in Romania, currently having about 400 locations.
