ooking a bit more in-depth at the retail scene, it is worth pointing out that the first half of the year showed a mellower, albeit still expanding market, while the second half – a market in a slight downturn as the austerity measures enacted by the government weighed on both real incomes and sentiment. Nevertheless, as we highlighted previously, the actual dip in consumer incomes and the job destruction in particular do not look that bad when looking at more years behind (particularly in comparison with the 2008-2010 recession). ​ This could be why quite a lot of retailers continue to display solid appetite for expansion, even if they display more caution when negotiating.

We also note a decent, but steady, inflow of new brands that want to operate in Romania. Austrian drugstore chain BIPA, Canadian sportswear and apparel brand Lululemon and Malaysian chain Mr. D.I.Y. are among the bigger names that announced their entry on the local market, while previously announced brands like Action and Wendy’s opened their first stores in 2025.

While the local national statistical institute no longer provides a breakdown of the sales by categories (like for household appliances, chemist goods, textiles and so on), we can discern that brick-and-mortar seems to have performed a bit better in 2025 than online. Non-food retail sales, which include both, were up by 3.5% in the first 11 months of the year relative to 2024’s same period, while online sales increased by just 0.3% in the same period of time. Otherwise, anecdotal evidence suggests that amid the elevated inflation and increased economic uncertainties, households became even more price-conscious, favouring discounters. Amid this backdrop, we note the aggressive push by Chinese e-tailers, who tend to be more aggressive with their pricing.

We also want to highlight the rapid shifts taking place in certain submarkets. The food segment remains quite dynamic, with existing players rapidly expanding, a few high-profile M&A closed in recent years and consistent news regarding new names that could enter the market sooner or later. Similarly, the sportswear segment is also quite fluid.

Rents & Vacancy

In general, occupancy remains solid for most shopping centers, with the newly delivered schemes generally well received by the market, including retail parks in small towns. Meanwhile, dominant malls still have virtually non-existent available spaces and waiting lists for potential tenants, allowing these locations to achieve a healthy rate of change of tenants to achieve an optimal mix. On the rent side, 2025 saw increases in rents as turnover remains good (at least in the first part of the year).

Outlook

Despite a somewhat shaky current backdrop, with internal political developments, labour market worries and external uncertainties, retailers and landlords seem to see a robust long-term picture for the Romanian market. Expansion plans continue mostly unabated and with developer promises of around 230,000 sqm of new retail areas for 2026, the year may have the highest completion level since 2011. The pipeline is quite diversified (increasingly more than last years), with a plethora of schemes in the 4,000-20,000 sqm range, coming from many developers (including some non-conventional ones doing one-off projects). It is noteworthy that the higher construction costs are making some developers a bit worried, particularly given the softer consumer, but the longer-term view seems to weigh more.