Auchan Romania, the local subsidiary of French retail group Auchan, which operates one of the largest hypermarket chains in Romania, will have a new CEO starting May 7.

Frederic Bellon (45), the new CEO, has been working for Auchan since 1991 and since 2009 he has been a member of the management team in Romania, as sales manager responsible with the integration of the new Auchan stores.

He replaces Patrick Espasa (55) who has been the general manager of Auchan Romania operations since 2009. Espasa was promoted to president of Auchan Italy and Romania.

Auchan, who bought competitor Real from German group Metro in late 2012, now operates 31 stores in Romania. The company’s sales more than doubled last year to EUR 1.04 billion. The company reported a loss of EUR 15 million, it announced.

Andrei Chirileasa, andrei@romania-insider.com