Selgros Cash & Carry company, owned by Germany's Rewe group, is carrying out a network expansion project in Bucharest, likely to be the retailer's only launch this year, according to Dorin Iordachescu, the food procurement and sales manager with Selgros Cash & Carry Romania.

"We're not giving up our plan to open a new store in Bucharest this year. We can feel the crisis, but I am confident we'll overcome this period. A sales volume drop against previous years can be seen, but in terms of value sales advanced in the first months of this year from the similar period of 2008," Iordachescu specified.

This is the only expansion plan on the cash & carry store segment of Romania, in the context where Metro, the only direct rival of Selgros network, early this year announced it would focus on developing services for clients and not on expansion in 2009.

Early this year, Selgros and Dedeman DIY retailer requested authorisations to build stores on a plot of land located in Valea Cascadelor street of district 6 in Bucharest.

Selgros and Dedeman acquired the 8.5-ha plot of land in Drumul Taberei in Bucharest in the fourth quarter where they are developing a retail park together, according to some market sources that told ZF the deal amounted to 40m euros. The former owner of the plot is Mivan real estate developer, according to the same sources.

Selgros Cash & Carry operates three stores in Bucharest and another 14 in other major cities. In 2008, the network invested 15m euros to open a store in Braila. The investment in Bucharest is likely to be much bigger, given the price of the acquired plot.

The network slowed down its growth in Romania in 2008, after three years in which it added 2-4 new stores annually. Meanwhile, amid slower expansion, the company saw its annual sales growth rate go down from over 30% to 4.5% in 2008 year-on-year.