On Thursday, April the 10th, real,- Hypermarket is opening its 15th store in Romania and the second one in Bucharest, following a total investment of EUR 22.5 million.

The second real,- hypermarket in the capital city is located in the district of Berceni, on the Drumul Dealul Bisericii street, no. 67-109, and is the first store opened by the company this year. The chain’s expansion plans for 2008 include the opening of 7 new stores, a total investment of 150 million Euros. At the end of 2008 real,- will have a chain of 21 hypermarkets throughout the entire country.

The new store unfolds 7,320 sqm worth of commercial surface and 600 parking places over a total built area of almost 14,000 sqm.
real,- Berceni is pursuing the new strategic interior design policy, the implementation of which started last year and which aims at cutting down on shopping times by setting up a second entry near the food department, as well as the ranging of products similarly to an open market, the implementation of the “shop in shop” concept in the electronics department, and so on. 

Same as the store in Vitan, the new hypermarket will be open non-stop, providing customers with the possibility to do their shopping free from any time constraints.

"This year’s investment program focuses on expanding the chain by 7 more stores including Berceni, which will require approximately EUR 150 million in investments. The business plan we had for the first three years on the Romanian market was to expand the real,- Hypermarket chain up to 21 stores throughout the entire country, however, if evolutions are still positive, the number is likely to grow depending on the opportunities. In an increasingly dynamic and competitive market such as the Romanian one, we wish to become Bucharest consumer’s top choice in terms of quality, diversity, and delivery of service", stated Tjeerd Jegen, Managing Director with real,-Hypermarket Romania.

real,- Berceni has a varied offer on food and non-food goods, 80% of the 40,000 retailed products being brought by Romanian producers and suppliers.

For the ultimate shopping experience, the real,- Hypermarket in Berceni is providing a commercial gallery of more than 2,500 square meters, including 17 various shops, such as: pharmacy, bookshop, children’s shop, mobile telephony dealership, clothes for everybody, press, jewelry, ophthalmology, café, etc. Stores are operated by famous companies, brands already familiar to Bucharest consumers: Drogerie Markt, Secuiana, Mondex, Di Nano, Sense, Alabala, B&B, Inmedio, Orange, Germanos, Farmaplanet, Meda, Plus Optic, red&blue café.
With its generous, uncluttered spacing, the new store is provided with modern equipment for various activities: first-class refrigerating equipment, latest generation scaling gear, modern ovens and grills in the Gastronomy and Bakery departments, etc. Shoppers’ flow is ensured by the 39 cash registers, from which 36 of them are placed in line.

To deliver on the needs of its customers, real,- is providing top quality service, such as flexible financing instruments, testing of appliances at the test stand, adjustment of clothes, home delivery of bulky non-food products worth RON 500 or more, permanent product return desk, etc.  

To make shopping even more convenience for the Romanian customers in the Easter period, all stores in real chain will be open non-stop through out the month of April. In addition to the 2 stores in Bucharest also the store from Constanta will be open through out the summer non-stop.


Notes for editors

The real,-Hypermarket division is part of the METRO Group, one of the greatest international retail groups, running more than 2,200 stores in 31 countries, employing around 280,000 people.
In Germany, real,–  SB-Warenhaus GmbH has over 350 hypermarkets, where almost one million Germans do their daily shopping. real,- Hypermarket went international in 1997, with the opening of its first store in Poland. Today, the company is running over 80 stores, in countries like Poland, Turkey, Russia and Romania. In 2007, real,- Hypermarket Romania’s turnover reached EUR 367 million, almost 5 times more than in 2006, given the expansion of its chain.
The company’s ambitious expansion plan, both nationally and internationally, especially in Russia and Romania, confirms the tendency for sustained growth.