Romanian fashion brand Nissa targets external markets, with expansion in Lafayette Galleries

Romanian fashion retailer Nissa runs a shop-in-shop unit in the Lafayette galleries in Dubai and is currently in talks to bring the Romanian brand to three other Lafayette galleries, with the possibility of opening a store in Paris, according to Ziarul Financiar, quoting Nissa representatives. Sales abroad, where the local retailer also sells through distributors, bring some 20 percent of its turnover, which was of EUR 9 million last year. Nissa, a family business launched seven years ago, now runs 12 stores in Romania. The business is owned by Denisa Radian, who runs it together with her mother and her sister. Nissa initially started as a producer in Craiova, but soon went to retail with the Nissa brand, with stores in shopping malls and on high streets across Romania. The Lafayette Galleries was created more than 100 years ago by Theophile Bader. The group now runs Galleries Lafayette, BHV, Louis Pion Royal Quartz, Laser and Monoprix, which brought the it sales of EUR 5.4 billion in 2010 and a profit after tax of EUR 524 million. editor@romania-insider.com