Brico Depôt Romania, part of Kingfisher plc, the international home improvement company, continues to integrate and consolidate its operational activity on the romanian market and begins the process of rebranding Praktiker stores in Brico Depôt units. Thus, in the first part of 2019, Kingfisher will operate the entire romanian network under the Brico Depôt brand. Three Praktiker stores from Arad, Braşov and Piteşti will be closed.
The acquisition of Praktiker strengthens Kingfisher’s position on the local home improvement market, becoming the number two in Romania, after Dedeman, with a network of 38 stores and growth opportunities on the local market.
Focused around the ONE Kingfisher operational strategy launched in 2016, the development directions includes turning the current product ranges by integrating a range of innovative products available in all European stores. At this moment, 7,500 products from the unified offer are present in the Brico Depôt network, and over 5,000 of these are already available in Praktiker stores.
Kingfisher will operate the entire romanian network under the Brico Depôt brand
The rebranding process will be completed by the beginning of the spring season, so in the first part of 2019 Kingfisher will operate the entire Romanian network under the Brico Depôt retail brand.
„The ambition of our group is to become a leader in the home improvement market, an objective that will increasingly be shaped by our medium and long term strategy. „(Adela Smeu, CEO of Brico Depôt Romania).
Praktiker stores in Arad, Brasov and Pitesti will close
In addition to the rebranding process, the plan to optimize the business network and to make operational activity more efficient includes closing of three Praktiker stores, respectively, Arad, Brasov and Pitesti. Four Praktiker stores was already closed after aquisition.
Brico Depôt has already provided a support and integration plan for as many employees as possible in the existing retail network.
Brico Depôt
Brico Depôt Romania is part of the Kingfisher group that officially entered into the local market in 2013, after the acquisition of the Bricostore chain of stores (15 stores). The company has transformed and rebranded the newly acquired chain of stores, which has become Brico Depôt.
Kingfisher also acquired 27 Praktiker stores in 2017. Four Praktiker stores was already closed after aquisition.
Brico Depôt Romania sales increased by 82.3% (+3.5% LFL), n H1, to £95m driven by the acquisition of Praktiker Romania and made a retail loss of £9 million (2017/18: £1 million reported retail loss) reflecting customer uncertainty following the change of ownership of Praktiker Romania.
Kingfisher plc is an international home improvement company with nearly 1,300 stores in 10 countries across Europe, Russia and Turkey, supported by a team of 78,000 employees.
This article is part of the CEE DIY retail category from www.bricoretail.ro B2B publication and bring together news, in english, from Central and East Europe related with DIY and home improvement retail.
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