In Bulgaria, supermarket operator Billa has announced that it is to launch 17 new outlets in the country by the end of 2009, taking its total new store openings to 25 through the course of the year.
The group, which is part of Germany-based Rewe, has increased its presence in Sofia, Bourgas, Rousse and Stara Zagora this year, and will grow its total store portfolio to 65 by the end of the year.
Billa has increasingly focused on entering smaller towns with a population of up to 15,000, although the economic downturn has seen a shift in strategy to concentrate on the country's six largest cities.
Billa Bulgaria's chief operating officer Diyana Todorova said that the group has postponed some projects in smaller areas of the country until the second half of 2010, emportal reported.
