The DOUGLAS Group, Europe's leading omnichannel destination for premium beauty, announced a structural change within the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) segment, which also influences the retailer's management structure in Romania. The DOUGLAS Group introduced a new country cluster in Central Eastern Europe (CEE), to harmonize regional structures across Europe and to enhance efficient and effective country management and speed of development.
As of 1 July 2024, Bulgaria and Romania have formed a new cluster named Balkan.
By establishing this new country cluster, DOUGLAS Group aims to further standardize its organizational structures in order to realize significant growth opportunities, strike the right balance between country-specific focus and leveraging scale, and strengthen partnerships with suppliers.
This new structure also comes with a significant change at the management level:
Georgi Komitov, until then CEO of DOUGLAS Bulgaria, has been appointed to lead
the new country cluster as CEO.
Georgi Komitov has over 20 years of experience in retail. He took his first steps within
the Unilever company, already during his master's degree, where he contributed to
the development of distribution through pharmacy channel.
Afterwards, Georgi Komitov worked for 5 years at Adidas Bulgaria, in one of the
company's first subsidiaries in the country. While working here, he was a sales specialist
responsible for building up the franchisee network and factory outlet own retail. He
then became a Sales Expert, steering Country Wholesale business.
Georgi Komitov took over the role of Country Manager at DOUGLAS Bulgaria in 2009,
position he held until June 30, 2024, when he became CEO of the new regional cluster.
In our country, he succeeds Lavinia Ivas, whose mandate as CEO and Director of
DOUGLAS Romania ended on June 30. Lavinia Ivas was CEO for 13 years, during which time she built a dedicated team and transformed DOUGLAS into a relevant player in the Romanian market, which has 44 stores to date and a strong online presence.
The role of CFO for the Balkan regional cluster was taken over by
Cătălina Hândoreanu, former CFO of DOUGLAS Romania, as of 1 July.
“The cluster offers us a platform for effective cooperation and partnerships, and is the next logical stept for the development of the beauty and skincare sector in Romania and Bulgaria, but also for accelerating the development of DOUGLAS Group at the CEE level. Our plans also include retaining and attracting talent to the teams of both countries and building a management team with a high professional level to effectively coordinate the implementation of our "Let it Bloom" strategy. The merits of Lavinia Ivas, who acted as CEO of DOUGLAS Romania, are remarkable, which is why I want to thank the Romanian team for its achievements and for transforming DOUGLAS into a retailer with a vast network of stores throughout the country", said Giorgi Komitov, CEO of DOUGLAS Balkan Cluster.
DOUGLAS Group's development plans through this regional cluster include both the expansion of the store network and constant investments in the online infrastructure and the promotion of domestic brands, both in Romania and Bulgaria.
"We will continue to work on the "Let it Bloom" strategy and grow our business in the region, making sure that our customers in the new Balkan cluster will receive even better access to experiences that will transform their style of beauty and skincare into a premium one. A new series of investments and new store launches will be made in Romania and Bulgaria, which will offer complete shopping sessions, products and beauty services, promotional campaigns, but also events in which our customers are always put first ", added Georgi Komitov.
DOUGLAS Romania currently operates 44 physical stores and one online store.The assortment is a consistent one, comprising a total of approximately 28,000 products and approximately 600 brands.
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