CARREFOUR PROPERTY: "We hope to have an ecological mall in less than five years"

• Interview with Anca Damour, general manager of Carrefour Property

Reporter: How much room is there still on the market for mall projects?

Anca Damour: Bucharest remains a very interesting market for Carrefour, we have recently announced a new project here - Vulcan - , which will be developed by our partners at NEPI. Carrefour will be a tenant of that project, and it will develop the hypermarket. The project will begin early next year.

There are still ongoing works in Bucharest for the Electroaparataj project, where Carrefour will be a tenant, a retail center which will be developed in Colentina, an extremely populated area, which does not yet have a shopping mall.

There are still areas where you can develop such projects, what is important is that the moment you start developing the project, to have an offer that is attractive to consumers and that you have something that distinguishes you from your competition. The retail market in Bucharest is sophisticated, there are still quality malls, and now, all those who come on the market need to make sure that they will set themselves apart either through the type of service that they provide to their customers, or through the type of brands that they offer in their retail galleries.

Reporter: In Ploieşti Shopping City we have noticed numerous local retail brands.

Anca Damour: Yes, we have local brands as retailers, because I do believe that a good mix must include national retailers - which represent an attraction which are what customers aspire to, together with groups such as Inditex - which have introduced the new concept with the opening of the Zara store in Ploieşti.

Reporter: You spoke earlier about the importance of coming up with something new. When will we have a completely ecological mall in Romania?

Anca Damour: I think that we are already taking steps in that direction. When we began the construction of the mall in Ploieşti, we wanted to build a more "human"-sized mall, rather than a monument. It is important to watch the energy consumption, because, aside from the fact that energy is becoming increasingly expensive, it is a resource which is also costly for the environment.

Until the moment that we have a fully ecological commercial center, I think that it is important to go step by step in that direction, and we are doing this at this moment. It is a rather difficult economic context in Romania, but we are taking steps in that regard.

Reporter: Does it have to be five years from now?

Anca Damour: I am hoping that it will happen sooner.

Reporter: What were the challenges of 2012?

Anca Damour: For Carrefour, 2012 was a very good year, we have continued opening many supermarkets - Carrefour market - which have an extraordinary success. By the end of the year, we will reach 23 such supermarkets. Also, we are opening in the franchise system - the Carrefour express stores, which need less than 300 square meters and which we are developing in association with already existing supermarkets. Angst was the first partner in these projects.

Reporter: How many such projects will you develop?

Anca Damour: We will continue expansion with supermarkets and "express"-type stores as long as there will be demand.

Reporter: You continue to expand, even though consumption is dropping. What makes you so optimistic?

Anca Damour: Because among Romanians, the Carrefour brand is very popular. Aside from the attachment to the brand, this can only be explained through the large number of promotions we are doing. Promotions are a huge engine for growth, and we will continue to invest.

The next similar project of Carrefour Property will be developed in Braşov, and its construction will begin in 2013.