"Plafar" expands its retail network

Currently, most of the stores owned by Plafar - a traditional brand with high customer awareness - are located in large retail areas, such as malls. Plafar increased its number of stores from 14 in the beginning of 2008, to 22, of which 8 are located in Bucharest. The company also has stores in Cluj, Iaşi, Constanţa, Tg. Mureş, Alba-Iulia, Piteşti, Bacău, Vaslui, Suceava, Arad and Brăila.

Dorin Catană, General Manager of "Centrofarm" SA and "Plafar Retail" SRL said: "Plafar will continue its nationwide expansion this year, choosing its locations carefully, because in these times of crisis traffic in commercial centers can experience major fluctuations that could deeply impact our business. The new concept of Plafar, with wide spaces and a comprehensive range of products, is intended to change its image of , and get more in line with the current lifestyle (bio and eco trends)".

The new Plafar store offers a wide range of natural products, from teas, extracts and creams, to nutritional supplements, cosmetics and biological foods, most of them produced by local companies, as well as imported. It also sells bio foods, and specific books and magazines.

The expansion of Plafar"s store network involves major investments. The set up of a store requires a minimum of 80-100,000 Euros, apart from inventory and staff training expenses. Whereas in the beginning of 2008 Plafar had 65 employees, this number nearly doubled, on the back of the growing number of stores.

Dorin Catană said: "Plafar"s strategy consists of the exclusive distribution of several brands of natural products, of which I"ll list just a few: Gold Nutrition, targeted at athletes and people that lead an active life, Echinflu and Neopirex - natural stimulants of the body"s immunity. A new opportunity for us comes from bio foods, made from "green" crops, without chemical additives, and which are "Ecocert" certified. In September, Plafar will launch a campaign promoting healthy food, where customers will be able to sample juices, sweets, cereals and other 100% natural products".

Even though Romania doesn"t seem to have the same interest for ecological foods, that Western countries do, Dorin Catană claims that there are major signals that the market for natural products will expand rapidly. Young people are usually more open, and more willing to explore "better, newer, <>" alternatives, that the bio-eco trend fits with and which Plafar is associated with.