ZHUZHOU, China, Nov. 27, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- METRO China today announced the grand opening of its new store in Zhuzhou, as its first new store after the unveiling of Cash and Carry new store concept. It is also METRO's first new store opening for the 2014/2015 fiscal year. The opening marks the unrolling of the wholesaler's further expansion, densifying its sales network in China.
"In the last fiscal year, we have made many efforts to explore the potential of our Cash & Carry channel, as well as to prepare us for growing into a multi-channel specialist in focused areas. I'm very happy that these endeavors helped us to strengthen our relationships with professional customers and independent businesses." said Mr. Jeroen de Groot, President of METRO China. "During the 2014/2015 fiscal year, we will further optimize our assortments, pricing, and services to support more small and independent business customers in addition to our current strong customer base of large canteen, restaurants, companies and offices."
Supporting local Independent Businesses, Bringing Hunan Specialties Nationwide
Zhuzhou is known as a railway transportation hub and locomotive manufacturing base. The city is also home to the largest non-ferrous metal smelting base and the largest hard metal alloy center in Asia. With rapidly developing industry and service sectors, Zhuzhou is now a powerhouse for economic growth in Hunan. Its strong growth benefits local independent businesses, and creates needs for modern commerce.
METRO China offers a wide range of high-quality and safe products, competitive wholesale price, and professional services to support local independent businesses. On the grand opening day, many companies and institutions, including Zhuzhou Marriott Hotel and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Zhuzhou Branch, had signed purchasing agreements with METRO Zhuzhou store.
METRO's local purchasing strategy has benefited the agriculture businesses in Hunan. For many years, the wholesaler has sourced provincial specialties, such as Hunan smoked pork and sausage to sell through its nationwide store network, as well as sweet oranges and citrus fruit to offer in its stores in the region.
METRO Zhuzhou store - Unrivalled Purchasing Experiences
Located on North Zhujiang Road in the city's Tianyuan District, METRO Zhuzhou store covers a sales area of over 5,100 square meters, offering an assortment of more than 16,300 items. As a leading international wholesaler, METRO provides full assortments in food departments, including excellent quality and safe foods especially of ultra-fresh products recently optimized, such as meat, fish, fruit and vegetables delivered fresh every day, as well as dairy, dry goods, wine and liquor.
The store also sells a wide range of non-food products, clearly defined into "5 Worlds", including Seasonal, Kitchen, Cooking & Table, Apparel, Office & Media, Business & Home Care, exhaustively satisfying customers' needs with easy product search. During the first two weeks following the grand opening, the store will offer a 10% discount on all products sold.
To stay relevant to professional customers, METRO China constantly evolves its concept to adapt to the ever changing market. METRO Zhuzhou store features the company recently unveiled Cash & Carry new store concept, providing a welcoming environment and upgraded services, with elements such as tasting booth, information counter, etc. The new Zhuzhou store is also equipped with a delivery platform serving both the stationary store and METRO China's e-commerce channel, supporting the company's development of ambitious multi-channel strategy.
As a leader in welfare and gifting market, METRO selected welfare and gifting as one of its five focus channels of strategic importance. To better meet the special need of large and medium-sized companies purchasing welfare and gifting, the new METRO store features a dedicated "Welfare & Gifting Showroom", providing multiple customization services as well as packaging solutions and differentiated products.
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About METRO Cash & Carry
METRO Cash & Carry is represented in 28 countries with over 760 self-service wholesale stores. With a headcount of about 119,000 employees worldwide, the wholesale company achieved sales of about Euro 32 billion in the financial year 2012/2013. METRO Cash & Carry is a sales division of METRO GROUP. METRO GROUP is one of the largest and most important international retailing companies. During the financial year 2012/13 (pro forma), it generated sales of about Euro 65 billion. The company operates around 2,200 stores in 31 countries and has a headcount of around 265,000 employees. The performance of METRO GROUP is based on the strength of its sales brands that operate independently in their respective market segments: METRO/MAKRO Cash & Carry – the international leader in self-service wholesale – Media Markt and Saturn – the European market leader in consumer electronics retailing – Real hypermarkets and Galeria Kaufhof department stores.
More information at: www.metrogroup.de
Profile of METRO China
In 1996, METRO Cash & Carry, the international leader in self-service wholesale, opened its first wholesale store in the international metropolis of Shanghai. The company was among the first to gain permission from the China Central Government to set up chain operations in all major cities in China. Over the last decade, the company has set its foot already in 55 cities with 79 outlets in operation in China. With a headcount of over 11,000 employees, the wholesaler is serving more than 3.8 million buying customers across the country.
More information at: www.metro.com.cn
