ROMANIA: Home Garden producer enters the retail market with a takeover | Progresiv

Safeway International, the producer of Home Garden cans, enters the retail market by a takeover, the store being opened in Cluj-Napoca, in Sora Shopping Center. The investment amounted to over 150,000 euros and the producer is already working on the opening of the second location, also in Cluj-Napoca.

"We wanted to get closer to the consumer, which was the basis for the decision to enter the retail market through Home Garden stores. We also wanted to better understand the food market with priority, in addition to the preserved products we have dealt with so far, and understand the real needs of the market", explained Ghassan Shakhshir, Marketing Director within Safeway International.

As for the concept, we are not talking about an exclusive producer store, over 9,500 SKUs coming from both local and national suppliers being available, with a 75% share of food products.

"The store has an area of more than 700 square meters and, compared to the previous store in the same location, we have increased the number of SKUs, a point already noted by consumers. We will continue to increase their number continuously, as long as the space will allow us and in accordance with the requirements and needs of our customers", added the manager.

As far as plans for the future are concerned, the producer aims to expand the retail division with priority in Cluj-Napoca, but development at national level is not excluded.

Safeway International is active in the national food and alcohol distribution market. The company launched the Home Garden cans brand in 2004 and, according to the latest reports, Home Garden has recorded sales of about 50 million lei, up by 33% over the previous year.