Debenhams to open store in Bucharest next spring

British fashion retailer Debenhams will open a store in the Bucuresti Mall shopping center in the spring of 2015, according to Mediafax.

This will mark 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.

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Simona Bazavan