Slovenia's Mercator Announces EUR 80 M Bulgarian Investment

The Slovenian company Mercator is going to invest EUR 80 M in a store chain in Bulgaria by 2012.

Mercator-B EOOD, which is Mercator's local subsidiary, announced Wednesday that it has put EUR 4 M into the opening of the first "Roda" megamarket in Bulgaria.

The Roda store in Sofia is scheduled to open next week on an area of 4000 square meters; it will employ 100 people, announced Branko Micic, manager in Mercator-B EOOD.

By the end of 2010, the Slovenian company plans a total investment of EUR 10 M in Bulgaria in four Roda stores.

The second Roda megamarket will open in November 2010 in the new Varna Towers mall in the Black Sea city Varna.

The third will be in Galeria Mall in Stara Zagora. The existing Mercator hypermarket in Stara Zagora will also be rebranded as a Roda store.

Micic said the goal of Mercator was to achieve a 3% market share in Bulgaria by the end of 2012.

"Roda is one of our strongest brands in Southeastern Europe because it takes into account the local demand in terms of prices, product range, and services," he explained.

The Roda megamarkets will be targeting both end consumers and retailers, and the two target groups will have access through different entrances and will be served by different staffs.