01 novembre 2007
Bulgaria's retail on the rise
As incomes rose and consumers became more discerning with their disposable income, Bulgaria’s retail sector continued to grow. This year saw a sharp increase in the construction of shopping centres as the country’s retail sector continued to gain maturity, after lagging behind Central Europe for several years.
In August, an international real estate consultancy firm reported that by the end of the first half of 2007, the gross area of shopping centres under construction, that were available for lease, increased by 138 500 sq m to 201 000 sq m, making retail the most active sector of commercial real estate.
There are currently six malls in Bulgaria with a total gross area for leasing of 105 000 sq m. Take-up of units is high: “except for a few schemes with poor concept design and management, all major shopping centres have full occupancy”, the consulting firm said.
There has been a glut of announcements of shopping centre investments over the past year, filling a gap in the market that emerged as Bulgarian consumers became more affluent and discerning. Countries in Central Europe such as the Czech Republic and Hungary led the way in retail development among the former communist states of the region, but as these markets became saturated, foreign retailers and mall developers turned their attention to the south-east. Bulgaria’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate, which averaged six per cent for the past three years and is expected to achieve at least this rate in 2007, and open markets have created a new consumer class.
While existing malls and planned developments were clustered in Sofia, attention has turned to other cities. Bulgaria’s third largest city, Varna, was singled out by the consulting firm, which said the Black Sea port was “shaping up as a very competitive market with five projects within a one km radius”.
Varna is the centre of Bulgaria’s summer tourism industry, with resorts stretching north and south along the coast. Sector analysts see tourists as a growth retail market. In the past year, a total of 5.2m foreign visitors came to Bulgaria and the government predicted a rise of 6.4 to seven per cent this year.
The development of shopping centres was matched by, and increasingly went hand in hand with, the entry of hypermarkets and discount food retailers into the country.
There was much anticipation about which major retailers might start operations in Bulgaria, to follow competitors such as Germany’s Metro, Kaufland and HIT, Hungary’s CBA and Austrian chain Billa, among others. While over the past few years, the German firm Lidl, part of the same Schwartz holding company as Kaufland, has flirted with the idea of entering the market, it has not done so yet. However, there are rumours among industry insiders that it may once again be considering opening shops in the country. Slovenia’s Mercator announced it will open shops in Bulgaria by 2010.
The potential of malls has drawn in Europe’s largest retailer by sales, Carrefour, which will base its first hypermarket in Bulgaria at the heart of these shopping centres. The chain is the developer of a new 90 000 sq m Sofia mall, where it will open its first store in Bulgaria within the next 12 months. The total investment of $109.3m will create the largest retail centre in the region. The mall is expected to employ around 2300 people, according to Carrefour.
Jerome Louber, CEO of Carrefour Bulgaria, said several of the company’s hypermarkets would follow the model used in Sofia and would be incorporated into mall projects, adding that “the next 15-20 years look very promising”.
However, Carrefour will have to contend with strong competition from Bulgarian supermarkets such as Piccadilly, which also often bases its shops in malls and shopping centres. It has announced plans to extend its network of stores to 16 by the end of 2008 – up from 10 at the end of last year. Piccadilly found its niche among middle-class shoppers looking for a range of foods from essentials to more boutique products.
However, there was some scepticism about Bulgaria’s short-term ability to absorb all the mall projects currently being floated, given the relatively small population and still low incomes. It is likely that not all those on the drawing board will be built in the near future. Some large foreign retailers have decided the Bulgarian market is not for them. Few industry observers expect an entry from the UK’s Tesco, which has thrived in Central Europe. This February Ramstore, a branch of the Turkish firm Migros Turk, pulled out of Bulgaria with company representatives telling OBG the firm intended to concentrate its resources in the Commonwealth of Independent States in a move to realign the company’s priorities.
Even so, the number of mall developments and the entry of serious players such as Carrefour are indicative that confidence is not only robust, but also growing.
http://www.sofiaecho.com/article/bulgarias-retail-on-the-rise/id_24752/catid_23
23 octobre 2007
Bulgarians shopping online with Visa and Mastercard
| 23 October 2007 | 02:26 | FOCUS News Agency |
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Sofia. Each year online trading has been gaining popularity, with services and products on offer getting more and more various and diversified. And while Internet shopping is a general practice in developed countries, it has started getting out on the map in Bulgaria. |
14 septembre 2007
Bulgaria's Pleven to Sport 1st Mall
13 September 2007, Thursday
 Representatives of Niya Co. presented the plans for the new Pleven mall at a conference on Thursday in Sofia. Photo by Nadya Kotseva (Sofia Photo Agency) | buy photo | |
The central Bulgarian town of Pleven will soon a sport a mall after the reconstruction of the former town bank building is finished.
Central Mall Pleven will cost almost EUR 9,2 M and will be built by Niya Ltd, a construction and investment company.
The mall will stretch on a total of 11,000 square metres of built-up area, 7,000 of which will be used for shops.
The five-storey building will house 40 shops, Yani Stoimenov, CEO of NIA Procon, the company that will deal with the shops rentals said.
The mall will also have a two-level cinema theatre, a bank, two restaurants, two fast food restaurants, cafeterias and a huge children's playground.
09 août 2007
Main Foodstuffs Prices Increased
Some of the prices of main foodstuffs are increased in February compared to January.
Comparative analysis of the wholesales prices in February for the last 5 years shows that the prices of the most food products in February this year vastly raised.
The growth is tangible in the wholesale prices of rice, sugar, been and dairy products.
Flour and eggs are with unaffected cost. Decrease of prices is registered of chickens, sausages and oil.
http://international.ibox.bg/news/id_1474125905
Standart: Honey rates to double to BGN 12
| 9 August 2007 | 06:03 | FOCUS News Agency |
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Sofia. A jar of first-class honey will cost BGN 12 as of September 1. Now it costs BGN 6. Тhe hike has been caused by the dry summer that led to low production. The amount of raw honey will hardly exceed 2000 tons, apiarists think. They insist on being funded by the state to help honey not become ex expensive product. They have threatened to announce a national strike after September 15 if the Ministry of Agriculture and Foods does not take urgent measures. Currently Bulgarians consume 2,000 tons of honey a year. 3,000 tons are exported out of a total of 7,000 – 9,000 produced a year. |
Novinar: Cow cheese costs more than BGN 7
| 9 August 2007 | 03:43 | FOCUS News Agency |
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Sofia. Bulgarians will be forced to buy imported cheese from Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Estonia and other countries, as they are cheaper than the Bulgarian ones. Bulgarian white cheese now costs more than BGN 7 in many stores. Other dairy products also have new price tags. According to milk producers imported cheese such as the Gauda brand that costs EUR 3.50 per kg will restrict price hiking of the Bulgarian Vitosha brand. Bulgarians will start buying foreign products which will make merchants lower prices, they say. Price hikes have been caused not only by the lack of raw material, but also by the fact that many companies had to accord to European standards. Only 44 that export to the EU market have remained out of 600. (Novinar daily) |
02 août 2007
150 Thousand Cars Imported in Bulgaria
Around 150 thousand cars have been imported in Bulgaria in the first half of 2007, announced BNR. The data is from the Association of the car importers.
Average per day 700-800 newly imported cars are registered in Sofia, which is 30% of the whole import of cars.
The growth in the import of new cars is 26% and that of second hand ones -50%.
The statistic shows that nearly 80% of the cars, which have been imported this year in Bulgaria belong to private owners.
In Bulgaria the importer does not present the real sale contract but a notional document in which a significantly lowered price is written. Thus, the traders save from taxes and fees, which should otherwise go to the budget, comment representatives of the car business. The application of the scheme is expending especially after Bulgaria jointed the EU and the requirement for custom and police control of the imported EU-cars.
The “Customs” agency reminds that import of cars from non-EU countries is taxed. The excise duty depends on the power of the engine.
http://international.ibox.bg/news/id_1004978875
14 juillet 2007
Bulgaria Europe's Cheapest for Food and Alcohol
Bulgaria is the cheapest country in Europe for food and alcohol, according to a survey on food, beverages and tobacco in the 27 EU countries.
The survey, carried out in 2006 by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, showed that Bulgarian shoppers pay 44% less on average for groceries than their European counterparts.
Alcohol costs 30% less than the EU average making it one of the cheapest, while tobacco products are 50% less expensive, on a par with the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Slovakia.
In 2006, the price level of a comparable basket of food and non-alcoholic beverages was two and half times higher in the most expensive EU27 Member State than in the cheapest one, data shows.
The range was similar for alcoholic beverages, but was much greater for tobacco where price levels were seven times higher.
The highest price levels for food and non-alcoholic beverages were recorded in Denmark (142% of the EU27 average), Ireland (125%), Finland (120%) and Sweden (119%), and the lowest in Bulgaria (56%), Lithuania (64%), Poland and Slovakia (both 67%).
For bread and cereals, price levels ranged from 41% of the EU27 average in Bulgaria and 56% in Slovakia to 150% in Denmark and 141% in Finland; for meat from 48% in Bulgaria and 50% in Lithuania to 149% in Denmark and 133% in Sweden; and for milk, cheese and eggs from 67% in Poland and 75% in Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia to 139% in Cyprus and 138% in Greece.
The highest price levels for alcoholic beverages were registered in Ireland (181% of the EU27 average), Finland (170%), the United Kingdom (152%) and Sweden (145%), and the lowest in Bulgaria (69%), Slovakia (72%), Hungary (77%) and Lithuania (79%).
For tobacco the highest price levels were observed in the United Kingdom (205% of the EU27 average), Ireland (186%), France (133%), Germany and Sweden (both 119%), and the lowest in Latvia (28%), Lithuania (30%), Romania (32%) and Estonia (41%).
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=83014
11 juillet 2007
Bulgaria new vehicle dealers report record Jun sales
A record-setting 4,807 new motor vehicles were sold in Bulgaria in June, including 4,491 cars and vans, shows data of the Union of the Importers of Automobiles.
The H1 new vehicle market added 26% year-on-year.
The truck segment raced ahead with a hefty 76% year-on-year growth in the first half of the year with sales topping 1,249 units. Trucks in the 18-44 ton category continue to drive more than half of the market. The nation's top-selling truck manufacturers are Mercedes, Iveco and Volvo.
The auto segment grew by a fourth in H1 to 23,615 units.
Toyota dealer TM Auto leads the competition ahead of the Ford and Peugeot dealers.
Bulgaria's top-selling car in H1 was Dacia Logan with 1,500 units.
The sales of pre-owned cars doubled year-on-year to 130,000 units in H1 2007.(Dnevnik)
07 juillet 2007
Bulgarian retailer Fantastico plans new stores, logistics center
Fantastico, the local chain of convenience food stores, said it plans to invest over 10 mln levs in two new outlets by the end of 2007.
The company is also developing a pipeline of other projects, including the construction of a logistics center, said company president Valeri Nikolov.
Around 4 mln levs have been set aside to revamp the Drujba 1 store which the chain recent acquired. The 1,300 sq m outlet should open in the fall.
Another 6 mln levs have been slated for a 3,000 sq m store on Sofia's Cherni Vrah boulevard. It will open in late 2007 or early 2008, said Nikolov.
The latest rollouts will bring the number of Fantastico stores to 30, all of them sited in Sofia.
The company is searching for suitable sites to set foot on the nation's regional markets. It is also looking for a 0.6 ha land plot in the greater Sofia area for the construction of a logistics center.
The store chain said 2006 turnover rose 15% and should add 17% in 2007.(Dnevnik)