The FINANCIAL — Populi, one of the largest retail nets in Georgia expending in native town of Stalin. After opening its first regional supermarket in the newly reconstructed town of Sighnaghi in November, the Populi supermarket is now welcoming the population of Gori as well.
The central streets of Gori were previously well-known for the city’s main department store, but will from now on be known for the modern Populi supermarket situated there.
“The fact that the presentation of the supermarket was organized on such a high level speaks for the importance of the Gori supermarket both for the company and for the region as well. What matters most is that more than 100 people have been employed to work at Populi’s Gori supermarket. Kartli is a new region for Populi and we’re happy to have been hosted with such a warm welcome,” stated Lika Mikautadze, Populi PR Manager.
The number of Populi employees increased from 400 to 1 000 people during 2006-2007.
Populi invested USD 670 thousand in the second regional 1 100 sq.m supermarket in Gori. New supermarkets at 2 Tskneti St, and 23 Shuamta St in the suburb Varketili will be opened shortly in Tbilisi as well.
Populi invested USD 116 thousand in the Tskneti supermarket and USD 240 thousand in the Varketili one whereas USD 670 thousand, a relatively higher investment, was made in Gori’s larger size XL format supermarket.
Gori’s Populi, like other XL format supermarkets by the retailer, will work from 9 am to 11 pm, as for the Tskneti and Varketili supermarkets- they’ll be open 24 hours a day.
Special guests invited to the opening of Populi’s supermarket in Gori included representatives of Pepsi, Teliani Valley, Nestle and other suppliers. Ramaz Chochishvili, the Governor of Gori, and other city municipality officials attended the presentation. A special celebration cake, fireworks and special gifts for the customers were provided. The Gori presentation was the next best showcase of the company’s welcome will and intentions. The supplier companies presented Populi with special gift parcels of refreshments and candies.
“Populi was warmly welcomed in Gori. According to conducted research, the brand has high awareness in the region. It should also be stressed that Populi is associated with one big complex supermarket in the city satisfying just about any preferences of the customers,”
Populi is a dynamically growing company. In 2007 the average volume of the monthly sales of the Populi retailer net during the 10 months was GEL 34 619 000, which is a 200% increase from 2006. Since the end of 2006 activities grew from GEL 9.2 million and by November 1, 2007, reached GEL 14 815 000, which is a GEL 5.6 million increase.
The next regional supermarket by Populi will be opened in Rustavi on December 10. Like the Gori one, it’ll also be an XL format supermarket. On December 20 Populi will open a hypermarket of 4 thousand sq.m in Kutaisi and the company then plans to open in Telavi afterwards so that by the end of the year Populi will have 5 regional supermarkets on its account.
Mikautadze answered questions about why the Gori supermarket is regarded so important for the company.
Q. Could you claim the Gori supermarket is affordable for all social class representatives in the city?
A. We offer 15 types of special products that include first consumption goods such as: sugar, wheat, and oil. Such products are available to all sectors of the Gori population for low prices at Populi. We even compete with wholesale traders in this respect.
Hence, the population in Gori is given the next best chance to buy products at low prices at the modern Populi supermarket, equipped with the latest technologies ever.
Q. What’s meant for the latest technologies installed at Populi?
A. It’s the meat and fish producing equipment that we have at Populi City, the analogue technique that allows customers to choose to buy their chicken breast or wings separately, which was installed in the Gori supermarket. We also brought Populi brand products to Gori as well as our exclusive products from Germany, Holland, Austria, Hungary, and Italy.
All types of products are sold with more or less equal success. Gori has appeared to be an interesting market for Populi. I believe the supermarket will continue to attract more and more customers in the future.
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