November 30, 2006, the fifth hypermarket in the chain developed in Romania by the German company real,- Hypermarket is opening in Craiova.
The hypermarket located on Calea Severinului No 5A successfully combines generous spacing with a diversified range of products at most competitive prices. Over 36,000 commodities including food and non-food products will be retailed on a 6,800 sqm sale space. The range of products stands alone through its wide variety of food products: meat, dairy, cheese assortments, bakery, drinks, sweets etc. and non-food products such as home appliances, clothes and footwear, electronics and sports items, toys, as well as pastime articles.
The food sector is particularly generous, with real,- laying specific stress on freshness, quality and variety: over 100 fish products imported from Italy, Norway and Greece, over 400 bakery products and confectioneries, 275 of which produced in-house, a wide and diversified range of fruit and vegetables from Romania or imported, as well as over 150 gastronomic products from national and international cuisine (pastry, confectioneries, cooked food), which can also be ordered home The special concepts developed by real,- ,including the Island of Beauty, Dwarfie’s Realm, Hot Corner, and others, provide just as many options to find quickly, under the same roof, a complete offer for the entire family.
In real,- Hypermarket the customer always comes first, and the services available in the outlet are numerous. They include direct credit lines in the store via Total Credit and BRD Finance, the co-branded card real,- (a credit card developed in partnership with BRD Finance to deliver on the needs of the people who wish to gain rapid possession of consumer goods through a cost-effective, favourable credit facility), the check-up of the purchased appliances at the test stand, clothes re-fitting, home delivery to non-food products in excess of RON 500, office for returning products. To ensure access to real,- , which runs Monday to Sunday between 8:00-23:00 hours, customers benefit from free transportation from two parts of the city.
The total area of real,- Hypermarket is over 15.000 sqm, with an approximately 500 places parking lot. The hypermarket retails the highest technological devices split per sectors: latest refrigerating equipment, latest generation scaling devices, large ovens and grills etc. Customer flow is ensured on a daily basis by the 42 cash registers, 36 of which in the same line.
“The real,- entry on the Romanian retail market took place with the opening of our first store in Timisoara, in the month of March this year. We have been running an intensive expansion plan and we are opening our 5th outlet in Craiova, the result of more than EUR 20 million investment, including the costs of equipments and installations. Before the end of 2008 we will be running 21 hypermarket outlets in Romania, following investments that will have exceeded EUR 400 million. The success we have enjoyed so far on the Romanian market confirms that real,- has grown into a reference in what regards service at European standards, providing jobs, ensuring economic development of local markets, and more” said Mr John Rix, Managing Director with real,- Hypermarket Romania.
At present, real,- Hypermarket Romania employs over 2,500 people, and the management team in Craiova, as well as in other stores in the chain, is provided entirely by Romanian nationals. “As far as our Human Resources strategy is concerned, we consider the personnel are the warranty of the company’s success. This is why we are investing in instruction and training courses for the approximately 450 employees we have per store, including the personnel for the next outlet we are planning to open. Till the end of the year real,- will break the point of staff 3000 ”, declared Andreea Lupea, Operational Director with real,- Hypermarket Romania.
The variety of top quality goods at very competitive prices, the store’s touch of elegance, as well as of the nearby commercial gallery, generically denominated “galeriareal”, which unfolds over a total of 9,900 sqm (two floors) and is home to over 32 shops of various types, as well as the excellent services provided by a well-trained staff are all attributes which will make real,- Hypermarket gain the Craiova market as an elite commercial centre.
real,- business card:
In January 2005 real,- enters Romania
Setting up the company’s headquarters in June 2005, in Bucharest
First outlet open in Timiºoara, March 16, 2006
Second outlet, July 13, 2006, in Constanþa
Third outlet in Oradea, August 24, 2006
Fourth outlet, October 26, in Sibiu
The real,- Hypermarket division is part of the METRO Group, one of the greatest international retail groups, running in 30 countries, with over 2,200 stores employing around 250,000 people.
In Germany, real,– SB-Warenhaus GmbH has over 370 hypermarkets, where almost one million Germans do their daily shopping. real,- Hypermarket goes international in 1997, with the opening of its first store in Poland. Today, the company is running 64 stores, in countries like Poland Turkey, Russia and Romania. The company’s ambitious expansion plan, both nationally and internationally, especially in Russia and Romania, confirms the tendency for sustained growth.