German retailer Kaufland will open its first hypermarket next week in the Ferentari area, Bucharest’s poorest neighborhood.

Large retailers have avoided the area so far, due to its reputation as an unsafe place, with a high criminality rate.

This is the second hypermarket opened by Kaufland this year, after the store built on the plot of the former Grivita beer factory, near the Gara de Nord train station in Bucharest.

Kaufland is the largest retailer in Romania, with a turnover of over EUR 2 billion in 2015, up 14.7% over the previous year. The company’s net profit reached EUR 146 million, up 58%.

The German group currently makes 20% of the modern retail in Romania.

editor@romania-insider.com