1.

History

Dedeman is the business of two Romanian brothers’ entrepreneurs which in 1992 developed the
retail chain of building materials and interior design, created for those who want to build their
home.

After 8 years after opening their first store, with 5000 𝑚2 area, they became the national leader of
DIY market, with 100 percent Romanian capital, currently having a network of 48 stores.

In 1994, Dedeman had 11 employees. In 2002, 245 people were working for the retail network of
building materials and interior design. Today, at Dedeman, more than 10,000 employees are at the
disposal of the customers.
Dragoş Pavăl honestly admits that the rise of Dedeman would not have been possible without the
special circumstances of the 1990s. Luckily, in 1993, a year after Dragos Paval set up Dedeman,
the state was pressured by the European community to start privatizing and decided to give more
commercial space to the so-called "management location" (locatie de gestiune). It was a contract
by which you took from the state a shop with all the employees, and at the end of the period you
could become the owner. Dragoş Pavăl was still employed in the state-run shops and he took over
a furniture store, which soon proved to be a real gold mine.

In 2002 they had a credit from ABN-Amro in value of 1.500.000 euros. With those money they
build their biggest store (3.500 𝑚2 ).

Starting from Suceava, Dedeman opened DIY stores in all major cities from Moldova, which
foreigners had bypassed in the beginning, preferring Bucharest and other more developed cities.
When the moment arrived in Bucharest, the Paval brothers hit the high prices of the land. Only
when the crisis arrived in Romania they managed to extend their chain store, helping them to
compete with other big names in this industry.
In October 2011 Dedeman became the first sponsor of the Romanian Olympic and Sporting
Committee (COSR) for two years . Subsequently, the partnership resumed in 2015 under Team
Romania, when Dedeman became COSR's Main Partner for a 5-year period.
In 2014, under the slogan "100% Romanian Performance" Dedeman became sponsor of the
tennis player Simona Halep . With the signing of this partnership, Dedeman promise to build a
tennis court for every shop they will open.

At the end of 2016, the company owned 45 stores and had over 9,200 employees.