Nordic retailer JYSK plans chain of 100 shops in Romania

Danish furniture retailer JYSK plans to expand to 100 stores in Romania on the medium term, from the existing 14 units, according to Mediafax newswire. After a slight growth in its Romanian business last year and with hopes to improve the turnover further in the 2013/2014 financial year, JYSK however expects consumer confidence t continue to be low, as it cannot foresee a significant improvement in macro – economic indicators, according to Alexandru Bratu, country manager JYSK Romania and Bulgaria. Within the group, 120 new stores will be open this year, but there is no fixed number of openings scheduled for Romania. However on the medium term, JYSK Nordic plans to have 100 stores in Romania and 35 in Bulgaria. In Romania, it runs shops in Bucharest – one unit within the Militari Shopping center, and in several regional cities, including Suceava, Constanta, Pitesti, Braila, among others. JYSK, founded in 1979 and owned by Danish entrepreneur Lars Larsen, has 2,100 shops in 36 countries, where it has 18,500 employees. In the 2012/2013 financial year, it posted sales of EUR 2.5 billion. Lars Larsen who is also the owner of the furniture retail chains Bolia.com, IDEmøbler and ILVA – as well as a number of other companies. The turnover of Lars Larsen Group is of EUR 2.9 billion. editor@romania-insider.com