Selgros Cash & Carry Romania store network, owned by Germany's Rewe group, saw its sales rise by 20% in the first six months of this year from the same period of 2007, according to the data provided by Pia Krauss, the company's marketing manager.
The retailer thus retained the growth pace it had posted in the first three months of the year.
The increase comes as the network has added one store in Braila in the past twelve months.
Alexandru Vlad, the CEO of Selgros Cash & Carry, specified the food segment continues to bring significant increases to the company, on a market where retail formats are starting to strongly differentiate one from another.
"Domestic retail is specialising. Category killers (stores specialising in one product category i.e.) are gaining a strong position on the market," stated Alexandru Vlad. An effect of this specialisation over cash & carry stores on the market is the rising importance of food products in the product mix compared with some items of the non-food category, the manager believes. Vlad also mentioned that in H1 sales in Selgros Cash & Carry Romania stores increased faster than the number of customers, which indicates a rise in the average spending in the store.
In 2007, Selgros saw 34% higher sales in Romania from 2006 as the network added two stores. The retailer's turnover thus reached 821.4m euros last year, according to the Finance ministry data.
This year, Selgros opened a store in Braila, in the wake of investments worth around 20m euros, also planning a second launch for 2008. The two new stores announced for this year will be located on plots of land belonging to the company, but the retailer does not rule out the possibility of working with real estate developers in the future, which would bring rented locations in the network. This year, the network will have a slower expansion pace compared to the previously registered one (2007/2006). The company's representatives blamed it on the difficulties encountered on the domestic real estate market, such as the outrageously high prices of land.
Selgros entered the Romanian market in 2001. Its only direct rival is Metro Cash & Carry, with almost double turnover compared to the one Selgros reported in 2007. Metro will resume expansion this year, planning to open a store in Deva.
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