According to Ziarul Financiar, the largest retailers opened about 410 new stores last year. For the first time, the number of hypermarkets, supermarkets, discount stores, cash-and-carry stores, and neighborhood stores exceeded 5,000.
The total volume of investments, including the construction of new stores, logistics, store renovations, and the purchase of land, is estimated at 500 million euros. However, these figures are significantly lower than the levels seen in 2018–2019: at that time, the Profi chain alone opened more than 260 new stores annually, and the industry’s total investment exceeded 1 billion euros.
Revenue growth driven by price increases
The combined revenue of the country’s ten largest grocery chains increased by 8.2% by the end of 2025, reaching 127 billion lei. However, this growth fell short of the annual inflation rate, which approached 10% by the end of the year. This means that, in real terms, sales declined, and the increase in revenue was driven by rising prices.
The highest growth rates were posted by the discounters Penny and Lidl, the La Cocoș chain, which operates as a hard-discount retailer, and Mega Image, which specializes in neighborhood convenience stores. The Froo chain, owned by the Polish Żabka Group, also grew rapidly. It began operations in Romania in 2024 and continues to expand actively
Experts note that the growth of these chains may indicate a shift in consumer demand toward more affordable retail formats. At the same time, it was precisely the expansion of retail chains that had a significant impact on financial performance. This also points to weak growth in real consumption.
Lidl Romania remains the largest player in the market, with revenue of 26.66 billion lei. It is followed by Kaufland (20.97 billion RON), Carrefour (15.6 billion RON), Profi (14.48 billion RON), and Mega Image (12.26 billion RON).
However, not all companies ended the year on a positive note. The only retailer in the top ten whose revenue declined was Selgros.
Half of the major chains reduced their workforce
Another trend was workforce reductions. Five of the ten largest chains reported a decrease in the number of employees compared to the previous year. These include Lidl, Profi, Mega Image, METRO, and Auchan. Overall, the number of employees at the largest players remained virtually unchanged, totaling fewer than 80,000 people. In some cases, these changes are due to business reorganization and the transfer of employees to franchisees, as happened at Profi, or to corporate restructuring, as at Carrefour.
According to estimates by Ziarul Financiar, the ten largest retail chains account for more than 70% of all consumer spending on food, beverages, and everyday goods; therefore, trends in their business performance are considered one of the most important indicators of the state of domestic consumption and the country’s economy.
