Debenhams opens new store in Bucharest following EUR 1 mln investment

After having left the Romanian market about two years ago, Debenhams will open on March 26 a store in Bucharest Mall, developed by Turkish Anchor Group.

The British retailer will open a 2,800 sqm department store, the store occupying 3 floors and including collections of fashion, beauty and the home for the whole family range. The total investment for its opening exceeds EUR 1 million.

The location will also include an area dedicated to the “Designers at Debenhams” gallery, where there are exclusive collections signed by famous fashion designers.

In premiere for a department store in Romania, Debenhams includes a whole270 sqm area dedicated to beauty, according to a press release.

In terms of the fashion offer, customers can choose from a range of over 55,000 products, while from the area dedicated to beauty there will be presented over 100 international brands of cosmetics, make up and perfumes.

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Debenhams store’s opening will create 70 new jobs. According to the company’s representatives, the store will be visited in its first year by an estimated number of 1 million people.

The new Debenhams store will be operated in franchise by Bulgarian group MRPI.

The opening on March 26 marks the retailer’s return to the local market after local businessman Octavian Radu gave up on the Debenhams franchise and closed the last local stores in April 2013.

Radu, who before the crisis owned several retail franchises through Rafar, the fashion franchise division of RTC Holding, opened the first local Debenhams store in 2007 in Bucuresti Mall. Over the following years, another six outlets were opened in Plaza Romania, Baneasa Shopping City and Sun Plaza, all in Bucharest, and City Park Mall of Constanta, Polus Center in Cluj, Lotus Center in Oradea, and Shopping MallDova in Chisinau. They had a combined sales are of some 13,000 sqm.

Te businessman closed the last two of these stores last year blaming it on low purchasing power and competition from players such as Inditex’s Zara and H&M.

Debenhams is a British fashion retailer which presently operates a network of some 240 outlets in 28 countries.

 Staff