retailArena 2024

FAN Courier is the leader of national fast courier market. Founded in 1998 by 3 Romanian entrepreneurs with 100% domestic capital, the company bears the name inspired by the initials of the 3 shareholders: Felix, Adrian and Neculai, in short: FAN.

Adrian Mihai was born on September 15, 1970 in the town of Fitionesti in Vrancea County. He graduated from the National Academy of Physical Education and Sports in 2000, and from 2001 joined the founding team FAN Courier. The "A" from FAN leads a team of more than 7000 employees, closely working on the development of the company by coordinating the Sales, Marketing and PR teams.

In 23 years, the 3 entrepreneurs invested over 135 million euros in the business and built the strongest fast courier company in the country. FAN Courier has been the leader of the fast courier market in Romania for 15 consecutive years, with a daily average of over 200,000 shipments.

Starting with March 2021, Adrian Mihai took over the responsibilities of CEO of FAN Courier.

FAN Courier is the leader of national fast courier market. Founded in 1998 by 3 Romanian entrepreneurs with 100% domestic capital, the company bears the name inspired by the initials of the 3 shareholders: Felix, Adrian and Neculai, in short: FAN.

Adrian Mihai was born on September 15, 1970 in the town of Fitionesti in Vrancea County. He graduated from the National Academy of Physical Education and Sports in 2000, and from 2001 joined the founding team FAN Courier. The "A" from FAN leads a team of more than 7000 employees, closely working on the development of the company by coordinating the Sales, Marketing and PR teams.

In 23 years, the 3 entrepreneurs invested over 135 million euros in the business and built the strongest fast courier company in the country. FAN Courier has been the leader of the fast courier market in Romania for 15 consecutive years, with a daily average of over 200,000 shipments.

Starting with March 2021, Adrian Mihai took over the responsibilities of CEO of FAN Courier.

Cristina is currently Head of the Economic and commercial office of the Embassy of Spain in Bucharest, leading a team whose objective is promoting bilateral trade and investment of Spanish companies in Romania and Moldova and supporting the internationalization process of these companies.

She previously worked in economic policy with a focus on better regulation and competition policy in the digital sector at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation in Madrid.

Cristina has also experience in development financing at IDB Invest of the Interamerican Development Bank in Washington DC and public procurement with UN agencies at the Economic and commercial office of Spain in New York.

Raluca Mănărcescu is Commercial Lead of Tech&Durables Department at NIQ GfK. In this role, she collaborates closely with a wide portfolio of international and local retailers and manufacturers, identifying current market trends in Tech&Durables Market, what is driving innovation and promotional activity. Her professional background is carved by over fourteen years of activity in Market Research and Business Development, starting with FMCG and currently acting in the Tech&Durables world. She holds both a bachelor's degree in Market Research and a master’s in Public Relations, having a wide experience on People Management and Business Planning.

Brendon O’Reilly is the Managing Director of Fashion House Group and Liebrecht & wood Romania, two property businesses working in commercial and residential real estate, as well as offering asset management solutions.

O’Reilly joined the company in 2010 as Managing Director after having spent nine years heading up GVA Outlets Ltd, and the company today boasts developments in Russia, Romania, and Poland.

Under O’Reilly’s leadership, the company regularly grapples with the changing landscape of real estate in central and eastern Europe, driven by the growing presence of online retailers and changing consumer habits among all categories. Its main activities are land acquisition, property development and property and asset management, with its essential purpose being to buy land and then sign contracts which convert the land into an object that has a good quality of cash flow.

Brendon's academic qualifications include a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Stirling, which he obtained between 2002 and 2005. Prior to that, he completed a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) from Glasgow Caledonian University in 1982.

As an accomplished retailer and a industry expert, Brendon O'Reilly's contributions extend beyond his role at FASHION HOUSE Group and Liebrecht & wood Romania. He serves as the Chairman of the Outlet Retailer and Developers Association (ORDA), where he utilizes his extensive knowledge and experience to further promote the growth and success of the outlet sector.

Through his leadership, expertise, and dedication to the outlet and real estate industry, Brendon O'Reilly continues to make significant contributions to the development and management of Outlet Centre schemes, driving growth and innovation within the retail sector.

Catalin joined Pepco in 2022 as Expansion Manager for Romania and since contributed to the opening of more than 100 stores in the country. His past professional experience comprises leadership roles with companies such as CBRE, Portico Investments or ALTEX.

With over 15 years of professional experience in entrepreneurship, marketing, and management, Calin Pascu is the CEO and founder of TIPLOG, an entrepreneurial printing and logistics company founded in 2012.

TIPLOG reported a turnover of 5.8 million euros in 2023, almost four times higher than in 2019 (1.6 million euros).

TIPLOG continues to innovate after opening a new type of service in Romania and creating an innovative business model through value-added printing services and integration with logistics and packaging production.

Calin Pascu and his team made the impossible possible in recent years in a traditional and commoditized market, which generally no longer reported growth in Romania. The TIPLOG team gets involved with companies from retail, FMCG, production, and Horeca in difficult and complex projects, and they take on the challenges of each project.

Due to the growing demand for logistics-integrated solutions, TIPLOG has reached a mixed portfolio of over 100 customers in 12 years: multinationals, large entrepreneurial companies, and emerging local companies.

Augustin Leabu este Director de Vânzări la KiK România, unde și-a început călătoria profesională în urmă cu cinci ani, evoluând de la rolul de Manager Zonal. Parcursul său reflectă perfect sloganul companiei, „mai mult decât crezi”. Identificând valori esențiale precum profesionalismul, empatia și respectul, Augustin și echipa sa au transformat provocările zilnice în oportunități de dezvoltare atât personală, cât și profesională. Este deosebit de mândru să facă parte dintr-o companie care valorizează și respectă angajații, contribuind astfel la succesul comun.

Doctor în științe juridice (2007), titlu obținut la Facultatea de Drept a Universității din Tübingen/Germania. A absolvit Facultatea de Științe Juridice şi Administrative „Simion Bărnuțiu” din cadrul Universității „Lucian Blaga” Sibiu in anul 1998.

Avocat cu vastă experiență în consultanță juridică, îndeosebi în domeniul dreptului concurenței şi al gestiunii de deșeuri precum şi a altor domenii de drept asociate avocaturii de business (drept civil, dreptul muncii, drept contravențional etc.).

A fost implicat în elaborarea de propuneri de acte normative pentru crearea unor sisteme de cooperare orizontală între competitori pe piața gestiunii de deșeuri, a participat la consultări publice sau individuale în cadrul elaborării/modificării de acte normative (Camera Deputaților, Ministerul Mediului, Consiliul Concurenței).

Din 2021 este vicepreședinte al Consiliului Concurenței.

Florina este CEO-ul Bringo România, unde îmbină experiența vastă din telecomunicații și retail cu pasiunea pentru transformare digitală și inovație orientată spre client. 

Florina s-a alăturat Carrefour Romania în 2019, după 16 ani de leadership la Vodafone Romania. Din 2023, Florina conduce echipa Bringo în calitate de CEO și aduce o viziune axată pe inovație și agilitate. 

Încă din primele luni ca lider Bringo, Florina a contribuit cu succes la automatizarea proceselor și îmbunătățirea experienței clienților, consolidându-și reputația de lider vizionar, cu o abordare umană și orientată spre performanță.

De asemenea, Florina susține integrarea principiilor de sustenabilitate atât în organizație, cât și în procesele și funcționalitățile Bringo, având în prezent mai multe proiecte de sustenabilitate în desfășurare.

După o experiență îndelungată în management, în industrii variate, Maria Crăciun Ruiz s-a alăturat proiectului Veranda încă de la începuturi. Din poziția de manager al centrului comercial, Maria coordonează și supraveghează toate activitățile tehnice, operaționale, de marketing și de leasing, urmărind îndeaproape atât performanțele echipei pe care o conduce cât și pe cele ale mallului. A reușit în scurt timp să transforme Veranda într-un brand bine ancorat în comunitate și să ofere un exemplu de mall de proximitate funcțional și de succes.

Roxana Popescu, în rolul său de General Manager România și Moldova, contribuie la creșterea business-ului AVON în România, una dintre cele mai importante piețe din Avon International. Alături de companie de peste 20 de ani, Roxana Popescu a ocupat roluri cheie ce au purtat-o din Țările Nordice până în Republica Moldova. În ultimii 5 ani, Roxana a fost cea care a inspirat și a crescut o comunitate de peste 100 000 de Reprezentanți AVON din țara noastră, din rolul de Head of Sales. Roxana Popescu continuă strategia companiei de Open Up & Grow, ce păstrează modelul de vânzare directă în ADN-ul companiei, însă se îndreaptă accelerat către un model de business omnichannel. Acest model aduce consumatorilor oportunități noi de acces la brandul AVON, prin retail sau magazinul online avon.ro.

Cu un parcurs de 16 ani în echipa Meli Melo, și-a început calatoria profesionala ca Marketing Assistant și a parcurs cu pasiune și determinare toate etapele până la poziția de Marketing & PR Manager. Acum, este creierul creativ din spatele strategiei de marketing, PR și imagine Meli Melo, pentru cele 70 de magazine din toată țara. Totodată, coordonează relațiile specifice cu mall-urile și se asigură că fiecare campanie de trade marketing este un succes.

Experienced C-Level manager, leading top-tier projects for big corporations and across various industries (incl. FinTech, payments, FI services, logistics, last mile, e-commerce).

Focused on international business expansion, omnichannel payments: ATMs (IAD), EFT POS, eCommerce Payment Gateway and First/Last Mile Delivery: APMs (Automated Parcel Machines) and PUDO (Pick-Up / Drop-Off points).

Skilled in general management, operations, budgeting, P&L, recruitment, people management, payments, (new) business development, FinTech, international expansion, startup growth, business negotiations, business analysis, strategy planning, business operations and sales.

Strong leader with analytical background skills, able to quickly adapt to new business demands. 

Educational background in Quantitative Methods in Economics and Information Systems at polish most-prestigious and oldest economics university - Warsaw School of Economics (SGH).