The Polish sportswear retailer, 50 style, opened its first store in Romania, in Bucharest’s Iris Shopping Center, Titan area, on a surface of 315 sqm. According to experts from Colliers International Romania, which advised 50 style in leasing retail space, the brand’s entry to the local market confirms the attractiveness of the Eastern European region , especially Romania, where consumption has been steadily increasing in recent years.
“The very good coverage Polish brands enjoy in their home market, alongside Poland being a top performer in the EU, has allowed them to seek other markets with strong potential in Eastern Europe. Romania is the second largest market in the region, similar to the Polish one, with high consumption sustained by wage growth, and where Polish brands have already established a strong presence on the fashion market and not only. All of these factors have created the perfect context for a player like 50 style to join other brands present here”, says Brindusa Grama, Associate Retail Agency at Colliers International Romania.
50 Style is part of the Polish Marketing Investment Group and has over 150 shops in Poland and Lithuania.
“Romania is growing very fast and the dynamics of the market stand out from the entire CEE region. Despite the still short presence, the reception of our brands in Romania is very good, which confirms our belief that this appetite is strongly justified. Not without significance is the size of the country and valuable potential, which does not focus only on the capital, but also covers other large centers – such as Timisoara, Constanta, Cluj-Napoca, Craiova or Iasi. We also see great opportunities in smaller cities, from which the retail industry gives us positive signals about the strength of their potential. Romania is one of our development goals in the coming years, both for Sizeer and 50 style. In addition, we focus on covering markets on which we are already present, including Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary,” says Rafał Pierzchniak, International Leasing Manager at 50 style.
“The development of 50 Style and Sizeer in Romania, as well as in other countries of the CEE region, proves that these brands have much to offer customers abroad. The success of their expansion is due to modern and customized retail concepts that compete effectively in the new market environment. For Polish companies, foreign expansion, including the Romanian market, gives the opportunity to grow business while the market in Poland is already mature and requires other strategies than just quantitative development of stores,” says Marta Machus-Burek, Senior Partner, Director of Retail Agency at Colliers International.
In addition to 50 style, the Marketing Investment Group also includes Sizeer, a multi-brand chain store for sportstyle category. On the Romanian market, Sizeer has already opened 5 stores since the beginning of 2018, with Colliers International Romania having advised the leasing transactions in the shopping centers Sun Plaza, Mega Mall, Parklake, Shopping City Sibiu and City Park Mall in Constanta.
Among the expanding Polish brands we see LPP group as well, which has brought five brands in Romania – Reserved, Sinsay, Mohito, Cropp and House – and which has leased, as advised by Colliers, 22,100 sqm in an indusrtial project that is currently being developed by the Belgian company WDP in Stefanestii de Jos, Ilfov County, to support the Polish group’s e-commerce activities. Other existing brands are Pepco, with 204 stores open nationwide, CCC with over 50 stores and 4F with 4 stores.
