Penescu brothers reopen Pic hypermarkets in Craiova and Pitesti

Brothers Ilie and Cornel Penescu, owners of the Pic group in Pitesti, have announced they will reopen two of the five hypermarkets closed after the company filed for insolvency in 2009.

"We reached agreement with some of our suppliers in order for them to resume deliveries to Pic hypermarkets. We may reopen the store in Craiova in June, and afterwards the one in Pitesti. We intend to reactivate all five stores," said Claudia Rusu, marketing manager of the Pic chain.

The Craiova and Pitesti stores, which were closed at the beginning of this year, will be operated by a company set up in March, Muntenia Hypermarket SRL, whose shareholders are Valentina Penescu and Dumitru Penescu, relatives of Penescu brothers, according to company representatives.

The announcement of Pic's relaunch on the retail market comes a few months after the appointment of a new legal administrator of Pic SA, PriceWaterhouseCoopers. The stores still have merchandise on their shelves, so they could be reopened even if the retailer is not able to resume collaboration with all its past suppliers.