The FINANCIAL — Populi, the biggest retail network in Georgia, has started producing private label products of meat and vegetables. “The company plans to make significant investment in this direction – USD 2 million, which means that approximately 10 tonnes of meat and vegetables will be produced daily by Populi’s new manufacturing centre,” the company said.
“The private label is a range of products which you can purchase only in the chain’s supermarkets. Before offering the private label products to customers the assortment must pass through a strict control process by company specialists,” Eugene Pichkhaia, Founder and CEO of Populi, declared to The FINANCIAL.
A grand opening of Populi XL shop was held on A. Tsereteli str, on September 17, 2008. Populi invested GEL 2 million in opening this Tsereteli outlet. Populi will be able to offer their customers even more products and innovations, many surprises and samplings were part of the opening event. Populi celebrated its 7 year anniversary as well and the event was attended by the Georgian mass media, Populi partners and Populi staff.
According to Populi the company’s future goals are to operate over 100 stores across Tbilisi and other regions of Georgia by the end of 2009 and open two hypermarkets with net selling area of 10,000 square meters each by the end of 2009.
“Every time we enter a new region, we research the market in order to observe the customers and their habits and preferences, which lets us know their needs and expectations. When we decided to spread throughout the regions, many thought that this type of expansion was very risky. As a matter of fact, the Georgian population is still following the stereotype of purchasing goods in markets rather than in a large supermarket,” Eugene Pichkhaia, Founder and CEO of Populi, declared to The FINANCIAL.
The company said it is implementing a new product with the collaboration of Bank of Georgia.
From the beginning of 2008 daily sales of Populi increased by 11%, the company said. Populi sales were on average GEL 177-197 thousand (VAT excl.) for the first three months of this year.
The income of Populi in 2007 reached GEL 48 million (including VAT) whereas the figure was GEL 17 million in 2006. The total trade of the network increased up to 12,600 sq.m and the number of staff up to 1,500.
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