Romanian hypermarket chain La Cocos, the first local independent retailer to reach RON 1 billion (EUR 200 million) turnover in 2023, announced that it is opening its fourth store in central Romania at Brasov, under an investment facilitated by the real estate consultancy firm Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.

Romania's retail market is dominated by foreign players, primarily Lidl and Kaufland, with the tenth-largest such player (Cora, taken over by Carrefour in 2023) already announcing RON 1.5 billion in revenues in 2022.

The Brasov store is the first unit officially announced as part of La Cocos' expansion plan, which includes the opening of five more units in 2024 and 2025. Before opening the store in Brasov, La Cocos operated three hypermarkets – two in Ploiesti and one in Bucharest.

The new store will have an area of approximately 10,000 sqm in the Brintex-Brasov retail complex, in the densely-populated Bartolomeu neighbourhood.

La Cocos reported EUR 144 million in revenues in 2022 and EUR 111 million in revenues in 2021. The company has constantly recorded profits from the first year of operations (2014).

La Cocos is a new concept in the Romanian market, a retail format that offers three price levels to its customers, depending on the purchased quantity. These stores operate in large areas, providing approximately 12,000 of the most well-known and best-selling products in the country.

The expansion plan began in November 2020 by moving to Bucharest, where the second store opened in the Vitantis Shopping Center, having an area of approximately 11,400 sqm. Moreover, the third unit was inaugurated in November 2023 in Ploiesti, with a sales area of around 13,000 sqm, being the largest store operated by an independent retail food chain in Romania.

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Cushman & Wakefield Echinox)