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Page headingPraktiker to become first German DIY Operator in Romania - Metro division expands successful Eastern Europe Business

27.09.2002

Praktiker to become first German DIY Operator in Romania - Metro division expands successful Eastern Europe Business

Praktiker Bau- und Heimwerkermärkte AG, Kirkel/Germany, Metro’s DIY division, will become the first German DIY operator to open a branch in Romania. After the market entry on 28 September 2002 in Bucharest the METRO Group division will be represented in eight European countries.

The store with a selling space of 6,000 square meters and some 90 employees was built in only four months. The assortment of more than 40,000 items covers the complete demand of Do-It-Yourselfers, craftsmen and hobby gardeners. The focus is on items in the fields of renovation and refurbishment, which in the rapidly growing Romanian market are strongly demanded.

Over the next years Praktiker plans a network of 15 stores and therefore the market leadership in this most populated Balkan state. In 2003 one further DIY center is scheduled for opening in Bucharest at first.

With Romania Praktiker enters the fifth country in Eastern Europe. The Metro-division is market leader in Hungary, Greece and Turkey, in Poland it is in the top group of DIY businesses. The sales development of the more than 40 Praktiker stores in Eastern Europe is highly positive. In the first half of 2002 sales in this region grew by more than 30 per cent to some € 230 million and also like-for-likes were up more than 13 per cent. Already today the Eastern European DIY centers are contributing positively to the company’s EBIT.

Abroad Praktiker AG generates some 20 per cent of its € 2.5 billion sales. It is planned to increase this share to 30 per cent in the medium term while expanding the number of DIY centers abroad to about 70 outlets.
 

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