Opens 6th hypermarket, Retail group perks up Cebu’s oldest trading center

CEBU, Philippines - In its effort to help revive and upgrade Cebu City's oldest trading business district, the Metro Retail Group recently opened its latest Super Metro Hypermarket in Colon Street.

Metro Retail chairman and chief executive officer Frank Gaisano said, "it's good to bring back the old Colon. Also, we feel that it's good to offer something better to our customers."

The Super Metro Colon is the sixth hypermarket that the group, which is under Vicsal Development Corp., operates in the Philippines.

Prior to this, the retail group already has two existing Metro stores in Colon—the first Metro Gaisano Department Store and Supermarket which was built in 1982 and just recently the Metro Wholesale.

Gaisano admitted that Metro Gaisano Colon is one of  the company's top stores for the past 32 years.

"The Cebu market is the toughest," he stressed. "Cebu has the highest penetration compared to other areas."

With the company's constant desire to provide the public with a new shopping experience, the group continues to adopt multi-store formats—the Department Store, Neighborhood stores, Supermarket, Wholesale and the new Hypermarket.

Hypermarket is a retail store concept that offers both food and non-food products.

Meanwhile, the retail company is eyeing to build 100 Metro stores by 2017.

MRG's President and Chief Operating Officer Eduardo Ponce noted that the company's expansion this year will be largely devoted to building hypermarket stores in Luzon and the Visayas which will give shoppers a more convenient and easy buying experience.

"For Mindanao also, we're looking at the possibility. Probably it will be in Davao because it's a big city," Ponce added.

Aside from opening new stores, the expansion will include the offering of new products and service in all Metro stores. — (FREEMAN)