New supermarket opens today |12 August 2009
To mark its first day of trading, Citimart has promotional offers on some popular commodities such as lentils, cooking oil, washing powder and milk among others.
Citimart spokesman Venu Gopal said: “We want the public to come in large numbers to get a feel of the place, experience our service and to build confidence in the quality of our products.
“We will sell a variety of basic commodities that can be found in most supermarkets locally and also a range of new products, but the main difference is that ours will be more affordable. That’s because we cut out the middlemen and import the majority of our goods directly from the place of production, in countries like Australia, India, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, China and Singapore.
“Our aim is to focus on low-income-earning Seychellois and provide them with quality products at affordable prices. However, we are aware that there are factors which will influence the prices of goods, such as foreign exchange rates, freight and insurance rates and local operational costs.
“For that reason, prices of commodities can fluctuate but we will ensure that they stay as low as possible. Whenever the combined effect of the factors influencing the price shows a decrease, Citimart will pass the benefit on to the customer.”
Citimart is a brand name operating under Safco International General Trading. The company, based in Dubai, is involved in foods and non-foods trading in more than 28 countries. Citimart has kept 80% of the Supasave workforce, of which three-quarters are Seychellois. It plans to create employment for more local people as the business grows.
“We have decided to proceed with this investment, despite the economic climate, because we feel there is a need for a supermarket offering choice, quality and value for money,” said Mr Gopal.
“The opening of the Citimart is also extremely positive news for Victoria, it will attract even more shoppers to the town centre and that should have a good knock-on effect for other businesses in the area.
“We want Citimart to become the ‘right place’ for shopping, with the ‘right products at the right price’. We want to give customers a feeling of comfort for every penny they spend and make their shopping experience more enjoyable.
“I would like to reassure the public that despite the economic hurdles we will ensure that the supermarket is always well-stocked.”
As part of its effort to give customers value for money and to create loyalty, Citimart will have special offers every month on a variety of products, and it even has plans to extend its product range to all hotels in Seychelles to enable them get good-quality products at wholesale prices.
The Citimart supermarket will be open on Mondays to Saturdays from 9am-6pm and on Sundays and public holidays from 9am-1pm. In the near future, the management plans to extend the shopping hours from 9am-8pm to give customers the choice of doing their shopping after office hours.”
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