Intersport, the world's largest sporting goods retailer, will open a store in Romania next year, through Genco Electric, a company held by Greek group Fourlis, which also owns the Intersport franchise for the Balkans.
"The store will spread on 1,000 square metres and will open in the first half of next year. A store this size usually costs some 600,000 euros to open. We have several locations to choose from, and we will shortly pick one," Alexandros Fourlis from the Greek group told Ziarul Financiar.
After the first six months in business, the Fourlis officials will also decide on a growth strategy. "We will decide whether it is appropriate to open another store in Bucharest and then go for other cities such as Constanta," Fourlis added. According to the Greek official, the company's operations will be included in the financial information of Genco. "In case we come to open many stores, we may create a separate company," Fourlis added.
According to Akis Ionas, general manager of Genco, the company will post 25 million euros in turnover this year. Under the circumstances, the company may be listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange next year.
"Our group is listed on the Athens Stock Exchange. We want to do the same for the company we hold in Romania - Genco. This way, we may attract capital to boost the business," Fourlis added. According to the group's official, the company may be floated in the second half of next year or in 2005.
Genco, authorised importer and distributor of Samsung products in Romania, last week opened a showroom for the Korean brand, located near Piata Unirii area. Some 100,000 euros were invested in the showroom.
"The products we have on stock are worth more than 200,000 euros, so that we may safely say this store cost over 300,000 euros to open. It is in fact an image store, since we have high-end electronic devices and household appliances on display. We opened this showroom because there is increasing demand for this kind of products on the Romanian market," said Ovidiu Bejan, Genco marketing and sales director.
ionut.bonoiu@zf.ro
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