Swedish retailer IKEA has bought the plot for its second store in Romania’s capital Bucharest.

The 13.7- hectare plot is located on the Pallady boulevard in Eastern Bucharest, which has already become a new hub for large format retailers. IKEA did not disclose the transaction value.

The retailer decided to expand in Bucharest with a second store, as the first one, located in Northern Bucharest in the Baneasa shopping area has been receiving a high influx of visitors.

‘There is high potential for IKEA stores in several large cities across Romania. Meanwhile, the existing Bucharest store has been welcoming a very large number of visitors, which can sometimes affect their perception of the shopping experience, or the shop  could be far from some Bucharesters, who might not visit it because of this,’ said Cornel Oprisan, retail manager of IKEA Romania.

The future store will be close to the existing retail park that includes an Auchan hypermarket, a Metro Cash & Carry unit, a furniture and do-it-yourself JYSK store, as well as the sports retailer Decathlon, and the toy retailer Jumbo. Do-it-yourself retailer Dedeman also opened a large format store in the area earlier this year. IKEA did not mention when the new store opening is in plan.

The furniture retailer plans to find land in other cities for expansion.

IKEA opened its first store in Bucharest in 2007, and was initially operated under franchise.  Later on, it became part of the IKEA Group, which started operating it directly.

Last year, the store posted almost EUR 89 million in sales,  higher than last year, and generated a profit of EUR 2.5 million, according to latest Finance Ministry data. It had 470 employees.

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editor@romania-insider.com