2024-05-10 14:54:03
Petar Pekaliyev heads Kaufland Bulgaria’s “Central Real Estate Management” and leads the development of the retailer’s innovative One Stop Shopping concept. Together with his 12 colleagues from his team, they are responsible for over 500 sites from 46 branches with various services on the territory of the chain’s hypermarkets in the country.
The first association with Kaufland is a retail chain. And this is because the company is the market leader in Bulgaria, which has 65 hypermarkets throughout the country and an assortment of nearly 21,000 items. However, behind the company’s success are nearly 7,500 people, which makes it the largest private employer. The people involved in it are specialists from all branches of the Bulgarian economy – from trade and sales, through marketing, human resources and information technology, to construction, finance and accounting, logistics and many other diverse fields.
And last but not least, experts in “Rentals”.
Logically, we also asked ourselves what kind of activity exactly this type of specialist is engaged in at the largest retailer. “My colleagues and I are responsible for building and developing Kaufland’s One Stop Shopping concept. With it, we turn our hypermarkets into mini shopping centers and give our customers the opportunity to find everything they need in one place. This happens by renting out the commercial spaces in our stores, located in the post-cashier area, as well as for those in the territory of our parking lots. It is through our tenants that we try to provide Kaufland’s customers with additional products and services that are either not presented in the store or are very little affected,” explained Petar Pekaliyev, the head of the department at the company.
His team currently consists of 12 people, the majority of whom are long-term employees of Kaufland. They are involved in the selection of tenants, which is different for each branch. “This happens after a detailed study and analysis of the area around the respective store, the infrastructure, the customers, their habits and interests. This is the only way we can ensure the right mix of tenants to meet the needs of our customers,” adds Pekaliyev.
We asked him what qualities an ideal candidate for a Letting Expert should have. “Our work is extremely dynamic, which is what the ideal candidate should be. Each colleague is responsible for his assigned region and affiliates, and must knows the real estate market and to be interested in the novelties and opportunities it provides. It is important to communicates effectively and build long-term partnership relationships with both current and potential partners. Team work with colleagues from the company on joint projects (expansion, construction and maintenance, procurement, etc.) is an invariable part of the work process. The ideal expert should have combinatorial thinking, be technically competent, yes analyze data and information, on the basis of which to make informed and justified decisions regarding the region entrusted to him and partners. And last but not least – yes a team player“, says Peter.
He adds that the most interesting part of his job is the freedom to think “out of the box”, the contacts and the opportunity to meet many different entrepreneurs from all over the country.
Not a small part of Kaufland’s partners are small, local family businesses, and the retailer is often the initiator of their growth. Through their partnership with Kaufland, they get the opportunity to enter new markets outside of the town where they started their business.
“Our work aims at an optimal balance between the best possible results for the company and the interests and success of the tenants. This is also the reason why my colleagues and I feel personally involved in the development of each of our partners,” he concludes.
If you would like to become part of his team in the Lettings department, you may consider the vacant positions.