March 15th, 2007- real,- Hypermarket will open in Baia Mare, Thursday March, 15th the ninth store of  the chain developed in Romania. One year after its first store launching in Timisoara, real,- enters the retail market of Maramures as well, with a new hypermarket, situated at 144, Bucharest Avenue.

From the country opening in March 2006 and until now, real,- invested 140 million euro, in Romania, creating over 4.500 working places. During this period, nine stores came into sight, all of them situated in important Romanian economic centres, such as Timisoara, Constanta, Oradea, Sibiu, Craiova, Satu Mare, Brasov, Tg Mures and now Baia Mare. The total sales surface of the real,- Romania network outruns 55.000 sqm.

The new real,- in Baia Mare lies on a total built surface of 18.500 sqm, out of which 6.100 sqm sales area. This is the result of a 16,65 million euro investment, which includes equipment costs as well. The number of working places created in the area reaches 450.

real,- Hypermarket will sell around 37.000 food and non-food products in Baia Mare, while customers will have the chance to choose from a large and diversified assortments: meat, cheese, dairy, cooked food, bakery, pastry and sweets or domestic products, housekeeping, electronics, IT and media products, textiles and footwear, toys, sports or entertainment products.

The store is a successful combination of generous, organized spacing, based on the shop in shop concept, diversified assortments at best prices. The special department stores at real,-, Beauty Island, the Land of Mogaldeata, Hot Corner etc, stand for "a complete offer under one roof ". 

In the food sector, real,-  goes for fresh and quality products; the number of fresh products customers can rely on at real,- outruns 100 in the fish department (products imported from Italy, Norway or Greece), and 400 products in the bakery and pastry department (out of which 275 are made in Romania); also, large assortments of fruit and vegetables, both imported and of Romanian origin, are awaiting the customers at real,- , the store offering everyone the possibility to order pastry, sweets and cooked food for at home.

To meet the customers needs, real,- offers high standards quality services, among which very flexible financing systems (credits obtained directly in the stores, by Total Credit, BRD Finance, real,- co-branded card – a credit card concept developed together with BRD Finance in order to help everyone use a cost-effective, favourable credit facility), the check-up of the purchased appliances at the test stand, clothes re-fitting, home delivery to non-food products which outrun 500 ron, a desk for returning products etc.  

real,- Hypermarket in Baia Mare has 300 parking slots and it is equipped with highest technological devices split per sectors: latest refrigerating equipment, latest generation scaling devices, great capacity ovens and grills etc. The customer flow is ensured on a daily basis by 41 cash registers, out of which 36 are placed in line. In order to have full access to real,- store, which is open from 8 am to 11 pm, Monday to Sunday, customers can benefit of free transportation, from different points of the city.

“This year, we will continue our proactive strategy, putting into action the very ambitious expanding plan, with 7 store openings, Baia Mare being, obviously, the first one. Through our presence on the market in Baia Mare, we assure the development of the existing retail structure in the area. real,- is a trustful partner who sustains the regional products suppliers, offers long-term jobs, contributes to the transfer of the know-how and to the career development. I am convinced that real,- will be appreciated from the start by the people in Baia Mare, for its diverse offer and attractive promotions, for the convenience of buying everything from the same place and for the elegance of its commercial galleria” stated Tjeerd Jegen, Managing Director, real,- Romania.

“In order to be closer to our customers, we have introduced, in Baia Mare, as in all cities where real,- is present, a green telephone line (Romtelecom and RDS),  functioning, 7 days per week, from which customers can obtain useful information. Moreover, both our website www.real-hypermarket.ro and the catalogues that we deliver, offer updated information about real,- products and promotions”, stated Andreea Lupea, Operations Director at real,- Hypermarket Romania.

The variety of quality goods at very competitive prices, the elegance of the store and its commercial gallery, named galeriareal (with a surface of 8.300 sqm, situated at the ground and first floors, and including 20 shops with different profiles), and also the excellent services offered by qualified personnel are the main attributes which will place real,- in top, on the local market of Maramures, making it an appreciated commercial centre. 

Notes for editors
real,- Hypermarket division is part of the METRO Group, one of the largest international retail groups, operating in 30 countries, with over 2,400 stores employing around 270,000 people.
In Germany, real,- SB Warenhaus GmbH has 312 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 73 stores outside Germany, in countries like Poland, Turkey, Russia and Romania. Last year, in Germany, real,- took over the stores of the North-American retailer Wall-Mart, in Poland those of G?ant, and in Russia real,- bought  one Marktkauf Hypermarket.

The company's ambitious expansion plan, both nationally and internationally, especially in Russia and Romania, confirms the tendency for sustained growth.real,- Hypermarket Romania