Real, - Hypermarket celebrates 5 years on the Romanian retail market

In 5 years: investment of over 550 million, 25 stores in 18 cities in Romania

Over 90% of products come from national, regional and local market.

Bucharest 6 October 2011 real, - Hypermarket, part of METRO GROUP, celebrates five years on the Romanian retail market. Since the opening of the first store in Romania in 2006, real,- has invested over 550 million to develop a strong network that currently brings together 25 stores in 18 cities, reaching the performance to become the widest hypermarket chain in Romania in 5 years only.

Since its arrival on the local market, real, - Hypermarket has positioned itself as one of Romanian's favorite retail chains, the company reporting increases in sales year over year, even in the actual unfavorable economic environment, 2010 being the year to report a positive operating profit for the first time on the Romanian market.

"The first METRO GROUP sales division which entered the market was the first modern retailer in Romania, back in 1996. The second METRO GROUP sale division, real,- Hypermarket opened its first stores 10 years later, and convinced rapidly by a balanced expansion and a successful development. For the following years we maintain the same commitment to Romania, "said Michel Lamoot, CEO of real, - Hypermarket Romania.

Within the 5 years on the local market, real,- was a reliable partner of the national and regional suppliers and a committed supporter of local producers. Thus, today, real, - Hypermarket store network sells approximately 70,000 food and nonfood products from 1,700 suppliers, out of which 90% are from Romania. At the same time real - aims to develop strong partnerships with local producers for both food and non food sector.

"real, - Hypermarket is the first retailer to come up with a new approach in terms of cooperation with the local producers: we go to find them not vice versa. One of our priorities on midterm is to encourage the development of local producers and thus to have more local and regional food and non food on our shelves. Moreover, we are oriented to a close contact with local authorities to help us to identify, inform and encourage local producers to join real,- "adds Michel Lamoot.

As part of a strategy to support local producers, real, - has launched the project "Produceti Romaneste Vindem Romaneste" a mid to long-term program that began in Timisoara, Oradea and Baia Mare and is to be extended to other cities and regions in the country.

In 2011, 5 years after opening the first stores, real, - began a long process of remodeling the stores in Constanta, Pitesti, Craiova and Timisoara. The stores received upgrades with an investment which amounted to about EUR 500,000 per store. In the near future, the process of modernization will be expanded to other real,- stores.

"Through the remodeling process, we aim to built and revitalize the assortment and to display the products in accordance with our customers' needs and expectations. Raising customer centricity and permanent focus on becoming a service oriented company areimportant pillars of our strategy "said Michel Lamoot.

To celebrate 5 years of existence on the retail market in Romania, real, - starts a strong marketing anniversary campaign that rewards customer loyalty and employees. In this campaign, customers can earn over 130,000 instant prizes, gift vouchers, large and small appliances, cell phones, and TVs, laptops and cash prizes through a simple and efficient mechanism that of scratch tickets, while the real employees have the chance of special internal events meant to recognize their contribution to the company success.

real,- Hypermarket Romania

Departamentul de Comunicare Corporatista si PR