Baumax targets growth

Baumax Oberösterreich achieved an increase of three per cent in sales to € 53.2 mio in the first six months of 2006, prompting expectations of sales reaching over € 100 mio by the end of the year. A new Mega-Baumax is expected to open in spring 2007 with a retail area of roughly 12 000 m². In Romania the first two Baumax stores opened in Brasov and Sibiu, each with a retail area of approx. 10 000 m². Plans are also in hand to open five stores per year in the next few years. Information from Baumax indicates that the company is aiming for market leadership in Romania, with a network of stores covering the country. But it’s not just Romania that Baumax has ambitious goals for: a dynamic expansion of existing outlets as well as the establishment of new stores is envisaged both for Austria and the other countries of central and southern Europe that are targeted for expansion. 15 new stores are in the pipeline for 2007 alone, and by 2010 there should be over 169 bauMax stores in at least eight countries if all goes according to plan. And expansion into Bulgaria is on the agenda for 2008, following which the company intends to extend its activities to Turkey, where the first branches are to open in 2009.