Germany's Takko Fashion apparel discounter, with 32 stores in Romania, sees 2010 as a year favouring expansion, after a period when developers cancelled projects and Takko network added just five stores. "A lot of the new projects are being resumed. It will be a good year for expansion as a result of the dwindling rents. With commercial space owners no longer asking 80 euros per square metre, all the other costs are going down," stated Cosmin Ulmean, managing director with Takko's Romanian subsidiary. Takko has chosen retailer parks in smaller cities over the last few years, a strategy most fashion retailers have avoided so far, choosing Bucharest as a primary destination. Smaller cities are coping with a steep shortage of footwear and apparel stores, one can only buy from second-hand stores or from Real or Carrefour, if any in the area, but such stores do not have more than 200-300 square metres allotted for these products, either. The first two months of 2009 strongly eroded Takko store revenues, so that the Germans saw their turnover slide for the entire year. Still, the company's management says the most important thing is the company ended 2009 with profit.

Germany's Takko Fashion apparel discounter, with 32 stores in Romania, sees 2010 as a year favouring expansion, after a period when developers cancelled projects and Takko network added just five stores. "A lot of the new projects are being resumed. It will be a good year for expansion as a result of the dwindling rents. With commercial space owners no longer asking 80 euros per square metre, all the other costs are going down," stated Cosmin Ulmean, managing director with Takko's Romanian subsidiary. Takko has chosen retailer parks in smaller cities over the last few years, a strategy most fashion retailers have avoided so far, choosing Bucharest as a primary destination. Smaller cities are coping