Penny Market Rewe

Penny Market's expansion in the Eastern European market of Bulgaria will continue next year with a flurry of store openings.

That is according to the group's retail manager for Bulgaria, Vasil Fecko, who announced at the launch of the group's second Sofia-based store that Penney was aiming to have a store network of over50 outlets in the country by the end of 2010.

The new Sofia store marked the 14th under the Penny banner in the country so far, with 700 new jobs created at an overall cost of €700m, Mr Fecko said.

Ahrin Rehberg, board member of Penny-owner Rewe in Germany, said that the expansion of the discount chain in Bulgaria was a win-win situation for Rewe - which also operates around 40 supermarkets in the country.

'If the economy of a country suffers a decline, the discount chain's business advances. If the economy advances, then our business surges,' he told pari.bg.