Polish convenience store operator Żabka has opened its 100th Froo-branded store in Romania, one year after launching in the market, the company said on June 16.

The company entered Romania in 2024 after acquiring a majority stake in distributor DRIM Daniel Distribuţie FMCG, marking its return to international expansion after a botched attempt to gain a foothold in Czechia in 2008.

Froo stores have since opened at a steady pace in cities including Bucharest, Pitești and Constanța. Like in Poland, each outlet combines convenience food, ready meals and coffee through the “Froo Bistro” format. Most are located on high-traffic streets or in residential areas and operate under a franchise model, either as new builds or conversions from independent shops.

Żabka operates over 11,600 stores in Poland through a network of franchisees. The company has grown rapidly under Luxembourg-based CVC Capital Partners, which acquired it in 2017. In 2021, Żabka said one-third of Poles lived within 300 metres of a store. In 2023, it became Europe’s largest operator of staff-free stores through its Żabka Nano format.

Żabka went public in October 2024 with an IPO worth PLN6.45bn (€1.5bn), the fourth largest on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, but fell short of initial plans for a valuation of PLN21.5bn.

Most shares in the offering come from CVC Capital partners. Other shareholders - Partners Group, the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development, and Amphibian (an entity of Zabka’s current and former managers) – exited their investments.

Zabka’s sales grew 21.5% year-on-year to PLN11.1bn in the first half 2024, with adjusted EBITDA growing 33.5% y/y to PLN1.4bn.

Zabka planned to open 1,100 new stores in Poland alone in 2024 and 1,000 stores each year in Poland and Romania in the coming years. Zabka assumes Poland’s market potential is 19,500 stores and Romania’s 4,000 stores.

The convenience store chain business is thriving in Poland and across Southeast Europe as these countries continue to put above average growth on the back of strong economic expansion and rising incomes.

Major supermarket chains have already established a strong presence in the larger markets of Southeast Europe and are now gradually expanding into smaller economies across the region. Smaller format convenience store chains that cater to individual neighbourhoods are doing especially well, capitalising on the growing consumer desire for frequent, local shopping experiences. The local store format also benefited from the coronavirus pandemic as shoppers looked for local outlets during the lockdowns.

Romania has been doing especially well and the modern retail market continued to expand in 2024. Further growth is projected for 2025, according to a report by Colliers Romania, which cited rising consumption and the entry of new international players as being behind the ongoing growth.

Over the past 15 years spending has grown from one-sixth of Germany’s level to just 20% below that of Europe’s largest economy, thanks to improved purchasing power, with the country outpacing all major economies in the region – and even some Western European countries such as Spain – in per capita spending on clothing and footwear.

Non-food retail sales surged by 14% in 2024, reaching a record high, while actual individual consumption rose to 89% of the European Union average, surpassing Poland and the Czech Republic, the report pointed out.

But the market remains underserved. Despite strong consumer demand with a total of 167,000 square metres of new retail space in 2024, down from 221,000 square metres in 2023 but still above the decade-long annual average of 140,000 square metres, according to the report. Developers are responding with plans to deliver over 200,000 square metres of new retail space by 2025, including key projects such as the expansion of Mall of Moldova in Iași and the reopening of Agora Mall in Arad. Pitești led the country in new retail deliveries in 2024, reflecting a broader shift toward small and medium-sized cities.