The sales of the first two Marks & Spencer Food shops in Romania have been better than expected and the British retailer will continue to develop this segment on the medium term, according to the company’s representatives.

“We estimated that Marks & Spencer food would bring 5-7% of our turnover in the first year, but the start was more than promising,” Sorin Stancu, Country Manager Marks & Spencer Balkans, told Romania-Insider.com.

Marks & Spencer opened its first two grocery stores in Romania in May. The two units are part of the recently opened Marks & Spencer stores in Plaza Romania and Mega Mall shopping centers in Bucharest. The two stores are the company’s biggest in Romania, covering about 1,600 sqm each.

Marks & Spencer plans to expand another one of its shops in Bucharest this fall.

“The two relocations and the expansion we will make this autumn we will expand our retail space by 30% and ad 20% more employees compared to what we had one year ago,” Stancu said.

The British retailer currently has six stores in Romania, four of which in Bucharest, one in Constanta and one in Iasi. It plans no new opening this year, but will continue to consolidate its business. Its business in Romania has been growing in the last three years.

In 2013, Marks & Spencer had sales of some EUR 6.6 million in Romania, according to official data from the Finance Ministry. The figures for 2014 haven’t been made public.

“Romania is our main market in the Balkans area,” said Stancu, who coordinates five markets in the area for Marks & Spencer, including Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro. On the medium to long term, Romania may reach 50% of the sales Marks & Spencer makes in this region, as the economy is stable and the purchasing power had been increasing, Stancu estimates.

Marks & Spencer has been present in the Romanian market for 15 years and has served over 2 million clients in this period.

First Marks & Spencer Food shop opens in Romania

Marks & Spencer relocates two stores in Romania

Andrei Chirileasa, andrei@romania-insider.com