CAIRO: Makro, a sales division of Germany's Metro Group, opened its first wholesale store in Egypt Tuesday located in Salam City on the outskirts of Cairo. Twelve more Makro stores are expected to open in the next three years. At the official opening, Metro Group's CEO for Europe and MENA, Joel Saveuse, said, “Egypt is one of the most important markets in the MENA region and Metro Group has been carefully monitoring the impressive fast paced growth of the Egyptian market.” “We have big plans for Egypt and we are extremely pleased to be entering this very lucrative market,” Saveuse added. A tour of the stores' massive 10,000 square meter premises offered visitors a first time glimpse of the wholesale store, boasting lavish displays of fruit, vegetables, poultry, fishes and meats, among 20,000 food and non-food products, all under one roof. The store will sell in bulk and will exclusively tailor their services to traders, hospitality professionals and business companies. The store's aim is to set the most competitive prices for professionals' core needs giving them the ability to offer a more diverse selection of products and services at affordable prices. “For the first time, business professionals will be able to access all of their core needs under one roof,” said Francois Oliver, managing director of Makro Egypt,” elaborating on the benefits that Makro's store will offer to business professionals. “With extended business hours specifically designed to accommodate to the working hours of professionals and tailor-packaged product options to suit the needs of each and every customer that comes through our doors, the store will offer a simple and efficient way for professionals to serve the need of their own customers to the very best of their abilities,” Oliver added. Oliver stressed that Makro would not only focus on profits but work on the development of the cold chain distribution lines under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture, through their Farmers Project. According to Makro, in a statement issued at the opening, this would shorten the time span “from farm to fork” thereby delivering high quality products to professionals and customers in the Egyptian market. According to Oliver, the opening of Makro in Salam City is also expected to be the driving force behind the local development of the area with 1,000 Makro Salam City store employees being employed, coming from Salam City and 250 more expected. “Ninety percent of the store's products are from local Egyptian businesses,” Oliver said. Makro expects more than 20 stores to open in the medium to long term around the country, each costing about €20 million ($27 million). Hisham Abdel Moneim, sales manager at Wadi Food, one of Makro's local suppliers, told Daily News Egypt, “Marko is a new concept and we cannot judge whether it will be a success just yet. In general it is a good development and it reminds us of when Carefour first opened in Egypt, starting a trend of hypermarkets,” said Abdel Moneim. “They have ordered significant quantities from us, but we can only judge their success after the third order in a month or two,” Abdel Moneim added. “I have confidence in the fact that it is a German brand and the store is definitely impressive. It seems that they are very professional and I hope they manage to achieve their goal of changing the way the wholesale business is done in Egypt market in Egypt,” he added. Abdel Moneim confirmed that Makro's prices are very competitive saying that Makro offer Wadi Food's products for lower prices than in other stores. Trade Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid has said that Makro will boost local trade, Egyptian agriculture as well as improving supply chains.
