ROMANIA: Modern retail expansion in February | Progresiv

In February, international retailers have slowed the pace of expansion slightly from the previous month. Thus, modern retailers opened 15 commercial units last month compared to the 16 stores from January. Compared with the same month of last year, retailers have opened three more business units. The only chains that have continued to invest in expansion last month were Profi, Lidl and Kaufland.

Profi, the chain recently acquired by the investment fund Mid Europa Partners, ended February with 12 new stores, reaching 523 business units operated in 272 localities nationwide. Among the new stores, nine operate in Loco format and the other three under the Profi City banner.

The second retailer that continued its expansion plans is German discounter Lidl who marked two openings, in Targu Jiu and Cluj-Napoca. With these inaugurations Lidl reaches 204 stores nationwide. For this year, the retailer announced plans to open 10 to 11 new commercial units.

Kaufland had only one opening in February, marked by the inauguration of its first hypermarket in Lugoj. With this opening, the Germans got to own 113 hypermarkets nationwide.

For detailed analysis on the local expansion of international retailers, access the interactive application Retail Universe:  www.universulderetail.ro.