German retailer Lidl plans big for Romania and openes a new distribution center
The Romanian retail industry will soon be richer with several new stores and a new distribution center, thanks to investments from German company Lidl.
Lidl has recently announced it will increase its investments in the Romanian retail market, with new stores across the country and a new logistics center. Local partnerships and promoting products made in Romania are also on the German company’s agenda.
No. 4 logistics center
With an investment of 20 million EUR (90,29 million RON), Lidl opened in November its 4th logistics center in Romania. Located in the Western town of Lugoj, the center has a built surface of 45.000 square meters, on a plot of no less than 16 hectares. The logistics hub serves 46 stores in the West and South-West part of the country, thanks to its 200 employees. Even more, it will be able to support export activities.
To explain why the company has chosen Lugoj is the director of Lidl’s logistics center in the previously mentioned Romanian city, Cristina Lang: „We chose Lugoj because we want to have an expansion in the West (of the country), where we already have 46 stores. We don’t want to stop here. Lugoj is also connected to the highway”.
Lidl exports Romanian products
One of the company’s plans for Romania is to further promote the use of local ingredients and labor. This being said, Lidl has managed to export around 26 million EUR (117,38 million RON) worth of Romanian-made products last year, with an increase of 6 million (27,09 million RON), since 2014. Most of the 2014 exports went to Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
New retail stores
Besides investments in logistics centers, Lidl is planning to open 100 new stores in Romania. The company already operates 200 stores in the country and wants to maintain a build pace of at least 10 to 15 new stores per year. Currently ranking third on the Romanian market, after Kaufland and Carrefour, Lidl has been an active presence after it bought a network of 107 stores, back in 2011, from another German retailer, Plus. With the company’s current operations, 2015 has seen a turnover of 1,1 billion EUR (4,97 billion RON).
Lidl is also looking into several upgrades for present and future stores. The company wants to invest in large shopping areas, between 1.400 and 1.700 square meters for the store itself and around 5.000 square meters for the land.
