Yalco sees potential for stores in Romania, expects EUR 6 mln from distribution

Greek company Yalco, distributor of Black & Decker, DeWalt products and of other do-it-yourself brands in Romania is planning to enter the retail segment in the country with one of the store brands it operates in Greece, Habitat and Omnishop. Given the economic situation however, the expansion plans have been slightly delayed, Socrates Constantinou, managing director of Yalco (in picture) told Romania Business Insider. The company hasn't decided yet which of the brands it will bring to Romania and is also contemplating the idea of creating a new brand of stores on the Romanian market. Omnishop and Habitat are selling houseware products. As for the do-it-yourself products segment, Yalco is planning to increase its turnover in Romania by 50 percent, to EUR 6 million, after the value of the market segment for these products went down almost 25 percent last year, according to Valentin Vasilescu, general manager of Yalco Romania. The Romanian subsidiary, which makes 65 percent of its sales from Black & Decker products sales, is also analyzing a warehouse project which could start in 2011. So far, the Greek company has invested EUR 1.5 million in the Romanian subsidiary. C.S