M Core Group has purchased seven strip malls in Romania from property investor MAS for an undisclosed sum. The projects with a combined leasable area of around 32,000 sqm have a full occupancy rate. The strip malls are based in Slobozia, Focșani, Râmnicu Sărat, Târgu Secuiesc, Sebeș, Făgăraș and Gheorgheni.
New retail projects with a combined leasable area of around 180,000 sqm were completed in Romania during 2024, down by around 15% versus 2023, with retail parks accounting for the biggest share of deliveries, according to Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.
DIY retailer Leroy Merlin has leased around 11,000 sqm for a new store that will open in Iași-based Mall Moldova during H1 2025.
Repaco Capital and Weststar Real Estate have delivered the Crevedia Retail Park, near Bucharest, following an investment of €15 million that was partly financed by BT.
M Core, the biggest owner of retail parks in Romania, has purchased Shopping City Suceava from Argo Capital, for an undisclosed sum.
Ahold Delhaize has completed the acquisition of Romanian food retailer Profi Rom Food SRL (Profi) from MidEuropa for approximately €1.3 billion, the Belgian retailer announced in a press release.
MAS has entered an agreement for the disposal of all its strip malls in Romania to M Core Group for €49 million. The deal pending approval from local authorities could be completed by March 2025.
Altex Romania retailer has purchased DIY network Brico Dépôt Romania from Kingfisher in a deal worth €70 million. The closing is expected to take place in H1 2025.
The BT Property Alternative Investment Real Estate Fund, managed by BT Asset Management, has purchased Prima Shops Oradea park from Oasis Group, for an undisclosed sum.
The disposable income gap between CEE economies, which are enjoying solid economic expansion, and stagnating Western European countries is narrowing fast. This is buoying consumer spending in markets like Poland and Romania and attracting international and regional retailers to large modern shopping centres that dominate the CEE's shopping and experience landscapes, while also offering higher margins and lower costs, NEPI Rockcastle's latest research concludes.
Bucharest-based Calea Victoriei, the main retail street in Romania, boasts a prime monthly rental level of €60 per sqm, which was 9% higher compared with last year, according to a Cushman & Wakefield report.
The retail market in Romania has room for growth, considering that short-to-long term pipeline exceeds 800,000 sqm, consisting of projects under construction or in different permitting stages, which are due to be completed by the end of the decade.
72% of retailers aim to increase their store space, compared to 26% in 2022, with physical stores remaining a key element in the overall strategy.
Affan Yildirim, General Manager, member of the Board of Directors of Anchor Grup, and member of the Board of Directors of MallDova, talked to Property Forum about the trends shaping the Romanian retail market and the investments made in București Mall over the past 25 years to accommodate evolving demands of tenants and shoppers.
Mitiska REIM has announced the opening of a new retail park in Pitești, the first of four new retail projects that the investor plans to open in Romania in the next two years.
NEPI Rockcastle has completed the expansion works for the Shopping City Ploiești project.
iO Partners, a JLL Preferred Partner, has teamed up with Bright Spaces proptech to provide its clients with a 3D space planning tool.
Romanian developer Iulius is investing €40 million in the expansion of Iulius Mall Suceava that will increase the leasable area of the project to 60,000 sqm.
Romania's retail stock expanded by around 106,000 sqm during H1 2026, with another 205,000 sqm under development that could help the country reach the 5 million sqm milestone at the end of 2026, according to a Colliers report.
The largest openings in 2024 were Argeș Mall (51,400 square meters), the new Prime Kapital/MAS REI project in Pitești, followed by Aurora Mall in Giurgiu (13,500 square meters).
Oil major OMV Petrom and state-owned Complexul Energetic Oltenia (CE Oltenia) have signed contracts to design and execute four photovoltaic parks in Romania.
Electricity supplier Restart Energy One has filed a request at the Timiș Court for the initiation of a composition with creditors procedure to address temporary financial challenges.
The Fidelis government bonds, issued in April by the Ministry of Finance, started trading on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) on Thursday.
Consumer spending in Romania has shown signs of caution in the lead-up to the Easter holidays, with fluctuations in the average shopping basket value observed in March,
Prosumers in Romania are advised to turn off the inverters of their residential photovoltaic systems if they are not at home,