Leclerc - a new story for the Romanian market

The last days the Romanian press announced with emphasis that Leclerc, the french retailer, will enter also the Romanian market and that for the moment nobody from Leclerc is open to discuss the subject. It is all the time like that. Since 2000 when Carrefour entered the Romanian market, this secret approach is pending and all new retailers were introduced by the business media in the same way. I really don't understand why, after 11 years, this paranoia is still remaining when it is obviously that the retail is a very fluid business, moving from market to market, from concept to concept and from a policy to an other. It is normal that every year a new retailer will enter the market or the existing retailers will renew their policy, will come with new format or commercial strategy.

When human beeings decided  that by selling and buying they can live in a more interesting way than animals, this thing, the commerce, was a never ending game. And this is the fun and the essence of this business. You have to be ready all the time for new things, for new competitor....but not to think to much on this and loose energy and money with this. Just do what to do in the best way that you feel. And media just have to inform us and give us information. I was disappointed each time when a new retailer entered the market, no magazine presented it really coherent, only the specialists as Progressive Magazine or sometimes Piata , but these magazines are touching a small group of people who could be interested on this topic.

What is Leclerc?
Edouard Leclerc started the retail business in 1949. My father was at that time one year old. So...we talk about a long history.
The business is focusing on independance, the stores managers become owners of the stores after a period of staying in the "movement". They have just some principles to respect: be the cheapest in their area, share 25% of the benefits with their team and to respect the big lines of the business. More details you can read here, on their website.

The philosophy of Leclerc? just to make everything easy to buy, accesibility, trough proximity, prices and services, sort of democratic commerce.

In France now they seems to be leader of the hypermarkets with 18.3% market share ( Le Figaro , 15th december 2011, having as source Kantar Worldpanel)  and they really  opened a price war with the others retailers trough a website dedicated to the price comparison - Who is the cheapest? / Qui est le moins cher?. The answer , of course, it's all the time Leclerc.

The French media is talking a little bit also about the fact that Leclerc will enter Romania, here you can see an article.

The Romanian press talks a lot about it, in fact this is already gossip. Just enter Leclerc in http://www.google.ro/ and you will find the same info presented in all business media, but also in the classic media in the section Economics or Business.

For the Romanian shopper this will be a good news that Leclerc is pushing so much on prices, but once again I repeat here one of my sentence, the Romanians still are looking for quality. The pleasure of the shopping is still laying on quality, price is noticed only when it is annoying or distracting the attention of the Romanian shopper walking trough the stores alleys. As far as I noticed until today, a Romanian shopper can memorise maximum 2 prices after a shopping session....but he will be able to tell you a full story about what he saw as new items, as flavour, as image of the store, if it was clean and nice smelling and so on. Anyhow in this period "everything is expensive".

Leclerc will have quite a strong competitive environment but apparently this brand have already the tools for not caring too much about it.

Until than, a though year for Romanian retail is ending, everybody in this business is waiting for the crazy sales before Xmas, hopefully they will be enough crazy to make friendly the P&L sheets who will be presented in the beginning of January 2012 in all companies.

And for the Romanian shopper I just want to add that I admire him a lot because he is still focusing on quality and on " just feeling good" when he is at shopping.

* all images used are from Leclerc public websites.