Carrefour, the French retail group, is set to expand its hypermarket chain in Romania by seven stores per year, according to a report released by Hyparlo, with the aim of reaching approximately 40 stores by the end of 2012.
The group will invest around €450m in the country during the 2009-2012 period, the report said, in a bid to push Carrefour's market share in the country's hypermarket sector to 50 per cent.
Carrefour is expecting Romanian sales to break the €1bn mark this year, Hyparlo added, as it looks to compete with German groups Rewe, Real Hypermarket and Metro.
Hyparlo operates Carrefour hypermarkets in Romania as well as several stores across France.
In a separate development, Carrefour has announced that it has recently acquired seven Superma stores in Madrid. The supermarket outlets are to be rebranded under the group's Carrefour City fascia.
