September 09, 2010
In case you didn't know, my family currently resides in Bulgaria. My wife is originally from here and has been doing some teaching. That's given me a unique opportunity to see how business is conducted in this part of the world. I've talked to a number of entrepreneurs to get their take on the situation in the EU's newest member state.
One of them, Vlado, is a former classmate of my wife who owns a convenience store business. He started from scratch and now has six different locations around town. I asked him how his business is holding up during the current downturn and was surprised at how upbeat his response was. Vlado's secret: The vast majority of his sales come from high-margin, recession-proof items like coffee, cigarettes, and alcohol. For most Bulgarians, these are not discretionary purchases. He's noticed customers trading down to cheaper brands during the crisis, but they still buy with the same frequency.
Of course, his success hasn't gone unnoticed. In a town of 75,000, he's seen about thirty new stores pop up in the last year alone. Several are owned by people that he once trained, but many of them are struggling and probably won't make it in the long run.
