International retailers show increasing interest for Romanian market says Jones Lang LaSalle

Romania remains one of the ‘hot’ destinations for retailers in the Central and Eastern Europe region alongside Poland, Croatia and Serbia, while the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary are struggling to lure international chains to their respective markets, reveals Jones Lang LaSalle’s most recent ‘Retail Barometer across CEE & SEE’ report.

After a year and a half of stagnation, the retail market in Romania is witnessing a ‘resurgence’ of development and retailer expansion activity, reads the report. There are an ‘impressive’ 423,000 sqm in 14 projects is at the development stages across the country with delivery planned until 2013 and some 277,000 sqm is still due to arrive on the market this year. This figure represents 170 percent of the stock delivered in 2010.

Nevertheless, at regional level Romania is behind the other countries in terms of retail space. The report shows that the maturity level of the markets in the region is diversified, with the Czech Republic being best equipped with retail (a density of 231 sqm / 1,000 inhabitants), followed by Poland, Croatia, Slovakia and Hungary, which are around the European average, while Romania and Serbia are lagging behind.

Commenting on the report, Roxana Stanciulescu, head of retail agency at Jones Lang LaSalle in Romania said that the interest of retailers for the Romanian market is growing compared to the same period last year.

“Bucharest remains the favorite destination for retailers who are interested to enter the

Romanian market, but also those already present. The fact that this fall we see a significant number of shopping centers openings, is clear evidence of increasing interest for continuing developments in Romania. There are large cities that still have a development potential, such as: Galati, Brasov, and Ploiesti, which have already announced commercial centers openings for years to come”, she said.

As for the type of retail developments preferred by retailers in Romania, Stanciulescu explained that an increasing number of large retailers choose retail parks nearby the hypermarkets the trend being seen especially at discount retailers, electronics and furniture retailers.