February 21 (SeeNews) - Germany's Douglas Group, which is becoming sole owner of Parfumerie Douglas Bulgaria, said on Tuesday that it will continue to expand to new locations in the Southeast European country.
“We will continue to further invest in innovative and modern store concepts as well as our strong set of advanced omnichannel services,” corporate communications manager Tim Bissinger at Douglas Group, told SeeNews in an emailed statement.
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Douglas subsidiary Kirk Beauty Netherlands Holding BV, which owns 76% of Parfumerie Douglas Bulgaria, is currently buying the remaining 24% interest from Nina Georgieva, manager of the Bulgarian company. The deal has been cleared by the Bulgarian competition authority.
Financial details cannot be disclosed due to the confidential nature of the transaction, Bissinger said.
“After having been able to write a joint success story with our joint venture partner in recent years, with the additional share acquisition Douglas is now parting from its joint venture partner as planned and with a gratefulness for the past years of a trustful partnership,” he added.
Douglas considers Bulgaria a growing market with good prospects for development in both the physical store and e-commerce business in the future. Similar to most Central Eastern European countries, footfall and turnover in Bulgaria are back to pre-COVID levels. Retail performed very well again after almost two years of suppressed consumer demand, Bissinger noted.
Parfumerie Douglas Bulgaria operates perfumery and cosmetics store chains Douglas and beauty|zone. The first beauty|zone shop was opened in Sofia in 2006. The German group first obtained a stake in the Bulgarian company in 2008.