Romania is one of destinations attractive for investors in retail among the states in Central and South-East Europe, especially in the field of opening stores in franchise, according to the study called "Barometer of commercial spaces in CEE & SEE" released by Jones Lang LaSalle.

Romania was classified as "hot" for the availability of partners for franchising, along with Poland, Croatia and Serbia.

As well, the study shows that Poland and Romania have the main streets uneven in terms of concentration of shops, being exceeded by commercial centers, while street retail in Croatia and Serbia is in the embryonic stage, but certainly it will grow and become a dominant part of the picture of retail in the countries concerned.

"I can say that the interest of retailers in the market in Romania is growing as compared to same period last year. Bucharest remains the favorite destination for retailers interested in entering the Romanian market, but also for the present ones. The fact that this fall we see a significant number of openings of commercial centers is a clear evidence of an increased interest in further developments in Romania. There are still cities with development potential, large ones, such as Galati, Brasov, Ploiesti, where there are already announcements of commercial centers opening in the coming years ", head of the retail department at Jones Lang LaSalle in Romania, Roxana Stanciulescu, said.

As concerns the kind of commercial developments, favored by retailers in Romania, a growing number prefer retail parks in the vicinity of hyper-markets.