Germanos wants to buy market rivals

GSM equipment and accessories retailer Germanos is preparing a rapid expansion on the Romanian market, as the company''s goal is to own twice as many stores by March next year. This strategy would be sustained both by organic growth, as well as by acquiring competitors'' networks, which have a minimum of at least 20 stores, Aris Karoussos, manager of the Germanos chain in Romania told ZF. Germanos Romania launched its expansion strategy at the end of last week, on the same day when its main competitor on the local market, EURO-GSM, announced that it had completed the acquisition of Digital GSM, a 23-store network, which covers several towns in the south-western part of the country. In the wake of this acquisition, Euro-GSM owns 111 outlets, compared with the 103 owned by Germanos. Ger manos also intends to modify the concept of its stores on several markets where it operates in the near future, Romania included, stated John Karagiannis, chief executive of Germanos. ZF