Leonardo, the retailer of footwear and accessories, has upwardly revised its target related to its Romanian network, and plans to open its first stores in Bulgaria and the Republic of Moldova.
"We may even have two stores in Bulgaria by yearend. Under the circumstances, we will reach approximately 140 stores in four countries," Gratian Ivan, commercial manager with Leonardo, told ZF Transilvania.
This year, Leonardo officials had estimated that the Leonardo chain would include 85 locations in Romania and 35 in Hungary. The company's current plans are for a network of 100 stores in Romania and 35 in Hungary.
The representatives did not reveal the value of investments related to the opening of the new stores. Leonardo for this year forecasts turnover worth over 74 million euros in Romania and 12 million euros in Hungary, accounting for an advance in turnover by more than 30% compared with last year.
"Being a network of footwear stores with national coverage and given the boom in major real estate projects in the retail sector, we believe that the Romanian market has a good potential for development over the following years, like Bulgaria and the Republic of Moldova," stated Ivan.
He specified the company's financial expectations were linked to the development of its own network, with the franchised stores to generate additional revenue.
"We opened a store under a franchising agreement in Targu Jiu and we are now considering several such projects. Selection is not simple since certain image, quality and service standards related to our stores must be followed. At the same time, we only accept owners of commercial spaces because we want to be sure the freight we deliver is paid for," Ivan also stated.
According to him, a considerable advantage of the franchise system comes from the fact that it would allow the retailer to establish a presence in smaller cities.
Besides Leonardo SRL and Leonardo Hungary Kft, the Leonardo group also includes Leonardo Design, which produces commercial furniture and interior design.
Leonardo SRL and Leonardo Hungary Kft account for 99% of the company's sales.
"Generally, the Romanian market is growing despite economic constraints, especially in the fashion retail sector. Economic growth of recent years will augment purchasing power, thus ensuring an implicit development of the market," explains the Leonardo official.
Leonardo stores sell footwear, and accessories such as, handbags, belts, wallets, bags, umbrellas and shoe-care products.
"The leather goods sector is a complementary one, while our core business is footwear sales. Yet, since accessory sales have boosted the profitability of our business, we have developed this sector to a large extent over the past two years," explains Ivan.
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