April 17 (SeeNews) - Food retailer REWE said it plans to invest over 2.32 billion lei ($550 million/487 million euro) in its PENNY Market network in Romanian over the next six years.
REWE plans to open 20-25 stores annually, aiming to expand its network to 400 PENNY Market stores by the end of 2025, it said in a press release on Tuesday.
In the coming years, REWE plans to open its fourth logistics centre in Oltenia region, as well as to modernise and streamline the network of existing stores.
"2018 was very good for us. Moreover, we are proud our local performances have positioned our team as having the best results in terms of sales growth within the group. We will continue the development process, as a clear sign that we have confidence in Romania, a market where there is great potential for a long-term investment plan," REWE Romania general manager Daniel Gross said.
PENNY Market reported a turnover of 3.45 billion lei in the fiscal year 2018, up 15% year-on-year. In 2018, REWE invested over 346 million lei in modernizing and expanding the PENNY network. The contribution of PENNY Market stores to Romania's state budget in 2018 was over 167 million lei.
Over 2018, REWE inaugurated 15 new PENNY Market stores and completed the remodelling of 170 Future Store stores across the country. The remodelling process started in March 2015 and ended in November 2018 following 120 million lei investments.
PENNY Market has entered the Romanian market in 2005 and currently, over 70% of its products on store shelves are purchased from local producers and suppliers.
Its entire network is served by three logistics centers located in Stefanestii de Jos, Turda and Bacau. At present, PENNY Market in has 237 stores in Romania and employs 4,500.
(1 euro=4.7599 lei)