Immochan, the real estate arm of retailer Auchan, will develop two projects in Bucharest by 2013, after recently opening an official subsidiary in Romania. The first Auchan City hypermarket, on some 5,000 sqm, will open in the Giulesti area of Bucharest, along with a 2,000 sqm commercial gallery. A second project is planned for the Ghencea neighborhood, a shopping gallery with 100 stores and a 11,200 sqm Auchan hypermarket on the premises of the former Tricodava factory. The two projects will add to the two existing Auchan stores in Bucharest.

Immochan named Tatian Diaconu, the Romanian who contributed to the Decathlon launch in the country, as real estate director for Immochan Romania. Before that, Diaconu was in charge of Bricostore's expansion in the Central and Eastern Europe. Immochan Romania also named David Rosseel as commercial director.

Immochan, created in 1976, invests in and owns shopping centers in Europe. The company runs 320 shopping centers in 12 countries, some 1.8 million sqm. In Romania, Immochan runs the Auchan Pitesti and Auchan Titan commercial galleries in Bucharest.

Auchan entered the Romanian market in 2006, with a first store in Bucharest, in the Titan neighborhood. It currently owns nine stores and has 3,300 employees. In 2009, the Auchan group took full ownership of MGV Distri-Hiper, which operated the Auchan hypermarkets in Romania.

Corina Saceanu, corina@romania-insider.com