British group Kingfisher, which last year bought the 15 Bricostore shops in Romania, has opened the first two stores re-branded as Brico Depot in Romania, in Bucharest’s Pantelimon and Orhideea areas.

“Opening our first two stores in Romania under the Brico Depot brand is a significant milestone for Kingfisher as we establish the first low-cost model in this market,” said Ian Cheshire, Group Chief Executive of Kingfisher plc.

“I’ve said before that the home improvement market in Romania has solid growth potential and we aim to develop a successful business here in the longer term,” he added.

Kingfisher bought the 15 Bricostore shops in Romania from French group Bresson, in a deal estimated at some EUR 75 million last year. In the long-term, using the Brico Depot format, the company takes into consideration the possibility to grow the business to around 50 stores.

Brico Depot Romania offers a total of 12,000 products for construction and home improvement.

Brico Depot was established in 1993 in Reims, France. It currently has 109 stores in France and 24 in Spain.

Bricostore Romania recorded sales of EUR 131 million in 2012 and EBITDA of EUR 5 million.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com

(photo source: kingfisher.com)