Croatian retailers resisting

As lake Balaton cannot be compared to the Adriatic sea, retail business in Croatia is also hard to compare with the Hungarian retail sector. Hardly any Hungarian products can be seen in Croatian stores, except for PICK salami and Sió or Hey-Ho juices. 1 million out of the total population of 4,5 million live in Zagreb. The city has a somewhat rural atmosphere, it reminds me of Debrecen. Croatians are working on defining their identity. We can see a lot of European flags in the streets, but the politicians and the leading business elite does not seem very enthusiastic about accession. The new elite does not feel strong enough to face the word market, which is why they impose high duties on imported goods. International retail chains are just about to enter the market. Ivica Todorics is the wealthiest Croatian with a fortune of EUR 620 million. He is also the owner of the 570 Konzum retail chain (which has stores in 7 different categories) and of the wholesale chain Velpro. Over half a million Croatians visit his stores every day. When Lidl opened its first store in Croatia, he told his suppliers, that he would not buy anything from anybody who did business with Lidl. Croatians do not seem to welcome competition. Getro is a clone of Metro C+C and Metro is not very successful. Kaufland, Interspar, Billa, Lidl are no match for the successful Croatian chains yet. Plodine, Dinova, Ultra Gross, NTL store still prosper. The Hungarian CBA concept is also successful with 8 local members and 600 stores. Mercator of Slovenia has joined forces with Plodine. Croatian owned stores are however, by no means inferior to ones owned by Western chains in any respect. They simply hope to remain unnoticed by European competition.