International retailers will invest EUR 1 bln to open 400 new stores in Romania this year

International retail groups will invest about EUR 1 billion to continue their expansion in Romania this year. Their plans include opening 400 new stores, new logistics capacities, developing online sales and digitizing their business.

There are currently about 3,000 hypermarkets, supermarkets discount stores and other modern retail formats in Romania, which generate total sales of EUR 12 billion, according to Ziarul Financiar estimates.

Kaufland and Lidl, both part of German group Schwarz, plan combined investments of over EUR 0.5 billion this year. Lidl will invest over EUR 200 million to develop its network and plans to hire 1,000 more people in 2020. Meanwhile, market leader Kaufland has an investment budget of EUR 300 million in 2020, the largest so far.

In terms of number of units, Profi and Mega Image, which run mainly smaller format stores, are likely to continue adding a large number of stores to their networks.

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