Biedronka celebrates opening its 1,000th store

Company sales in H1 2007 amounted to zł.4.1 billion which marks a 30% growth as compared to H1 2006, but Biedronka's owners declare this is just the beginning. "In 2007, 2008 and 2009 we want to open 120 stores a year and invest almost EUR 500 million in Poland," said Pedro Pereira da Silva, the general director of Jeronimo Martins Dystrybucja (JMD). The company will also build its seventh logistics center in Poland. "By around 2010 we will probably decide to enter Romania and Ukraine," said Jeronimo Martins CEO E. Alexandre Soares dos Santos. The company plans to use its Polish personnel and may also consider a debut on the Warsaw bourse to raise capital for the investments abroad. "For the time being there are more important matters, but when the time comes the management board will discuss these issues," said  E. Alexandre Soares dos Santos. (Puls Biznesu, p. 6; Rzeczpospolita, p. B4) E.B.