Penescu is back! Details about the new business run by the family of the former League 1 boss
Article by Remus Dinu – Published Saturday, April 11, 2026, 4:07 p.m. / Updated Saturday, April 11, 2026, 4:07 p.m.
The Penescu family, a well-known name in Romanian football in the mid-2000sis attempting a strong comeback in the grocery market, almost two decades after the collapse of the PIC chain of stores. The new family business, an online store of food and various home maintenance products, is managed by the daughter and wife of the former owner of FC Argeș.
The economic publication Ziarul Financiar recently announced that Cornel Penescu's family is once again involved in the retail marketafter setting up an online grocery store, but which also sells electro-it products, drinks, coffee and hygiene products.
The new business of the Penescu family: online grocery store
The cited source shows that the GPC Retail SRL company, which operates under the name Walfresh, was established in 2026 and would be indirectly controlled by Alexandra and Gheorghița Penescu, the daughter and wife of the former football player, respectively.
“Walfresh is part of the Walti group and is an online e-commerce platform that offers customers the opportunity to purchase groceries, beverages, coffee, non-perishable products, sweets, soft drinks, cleaning products and other items for household consumption” is the description found on the store's website.
The store delivers in Pitesti and nearby towns, Bascov, Ștefănești, Mărăcineni, Moșoaia, Bradu and Budeasa.
Sources consulted by GSP confirm that the project is currently in a local development phase, but with plans for gradual expansion.
The one who seems to be the “pillar” of the new project is Alexandra Penescu.
Alexandra Penescu / Photo source: Facebook
At the age of 31, Alexandra, daughter of Cornel Penescu, was a news announcer at a local television station, Argeș TV, a station that was in Penescu's portfolio. In addition to television, she also managed a taxi company, another family business.
The ex-financier of Pitesti has another child, Andrei, who took care of FC Argeș for a while after his father was convicted.
Penescu and the rise and fall of the PIC
“PIC” was a chain of hypermarkets and shopping centers led by Cornel and Ilie Penescu, being one of the ambitious Romanian retail projects of the 2000s. The “empire” collapsed, however, amid the criminal conviction of Cornel Penescu, and the financial crisis that followed.
After the rapid expansion of the period 2006-2008, when the group opened hypermarkets in Pitesti, Craiova, Brăila, Oradea and Călărași, there followed an unexpected regression of the company, accelerated by the conviction of Penescu and the global economic crisis in full swing.
At its peak, the company had over 4,000 employees, being described at the time as “a 200 million euro business”.
At that time, the Penescu family boasted that PIC was one of the few retail companies with entirely Romanian capital.
Cornel Penescu, the former patron of Argeș, retired from public life after the convictions received 17 years ago.
On Monday, April 6, Gazeta requested a reaction from Alexandra Penescu, the daughter of the former head of FC Argeș. By the time of publication of the article, she had not responded to our request.
Cornel Penescu, convicted in the “Bribery for referees” File
Cornel Penescu was convicted in several cases, one of them being for bribing referees in League 1. Penescu, a businessman who was behind bars for several years, was the patron of the FC Argeș team, and currently has no connections with football
