Mega Image, one of the biggest supermarket chains in Romania, will continue to expand at a fast pace this year, with an investment budget of around EUR 50 million, local Wall-street.ro reported.

The company plans to open more stores than last year, when it opened 69 units and reached a network of over 600 supermarkets and proximity stores. The company also hired about 1,300 people last year, reaching a total headcount of over 10,000, and plans to add another 1,000 this year.

Mega Image also launched its own online platform last year. This year, the company will continue its expansion in Cluj-Napoca, where it opened its first store in April 2017 and has already reached nine stores. The company’s next target is Timisoara, where it has already announced it would open its first two stores.

“We are taking it market by market, like we have done in all these years, and we make sure that we take a convenient market share on each market we enter,” said Vassilis Stavrou, CEO Mega Image.

He added that it’s not the size of the city but the consumer profile that’s decisive in Mega Image’s decision to enter a certain market.

The retailer, which is part of Dutch group Ahold Delhaize, had a turnover of EUR 961 million in 2016, up by 21.5% compared to 2015. Although it hasn’t released the figures for 2017, Mega Image recorded a double-digit growth last year as well, according to Stavrou.

editor@romania-insider.com