BR EXCLUSIVE. Mobexpert aiming to expand to former Yugoslavia countries and Bulgaria

Ioana Erdei 22/11/2018 | 15:24

Mobexpert, the biggest Romanian furniture retailer, is looking to open stores in the countries of the former Yugoslavia and Bulgaria, either through greenfield investments or through takeover of existing companies, Mobexpert owner Dan Sucu told Business Review. According to Sucu, the way the expansion will be done is still to be decided, either through an online or a physical store.

“In 2007-2008, we had an attempt to expand to the former Yugoslavia and Bulgaria, but it failed due to the global economic crisis. This failure cost us EUR 6-7 million. Now we are open to trying it again in the near future,” Dan Sucu explained.

According to the businessman, Mobexpert saw a 15 percent year-to year growth in its turnover in 2018. The company is also investing in a new line of exclusive online products.

“We want 50 percent of our sales to be made online withing the next five years”, Dan Sucu explained. He says that because of high land prices, the construction of new standalone stores, which were going to be built in Timisoara, Cluj and Craiova in the next four to six years, has been postponed. A few months ago, he had announced that Mobexpert was planning to expand into real estate by building apartments or offices above its standalone stores.

Mobexpert had EUR 178 million in turnover in 2017 and it has 26 superstores, regular stores and partner stores throughout Romania.