Store gears up for economic integration

With the Asean Economic Community taking shape   in 2015,  local retail chain Metro Gaisano has expanded robustly to position itself ahead and remain competitive in the market.

The group yesterday opened its eighth branch this year rounding off the total  to 29 stores in Visayas and Luzon.

It’s important to be positioned in strategic areas in the Visayas and Luzon to stay competitive especially with the  economic integration of ten ASEAN member countries, said Dr. Edward Gaisano, a director of the  Vicsal Development Corp.

By 2015, ASEAN member countries including Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines will become a single market which would allow the  free flow of goods and labor into  member countries.

Businessmen in Cebu see the need   to prepare for the integration so they are not  left out by the inflow of imported goods from the other nine countries.

While more information on the  implications of this shift is  needed, Gaisano said that they took the initiative of firmly establishing the company in the market first resulting  in a more competitive position.

more branches
This year Metro Gaisano  opened branches in Newport in  Bogo city , Lapu-Lapu city, North Port, Imus, Anonas, Tacloban city and in Basak, San Nicolas of Cebu City.

Next year, ten new branches will open, including  a second mall  downtown  along Colon Street, Cebu City with a targeted  opening  on February next year.

The ten new branches  will include five supermarkets and five hypermarkets.

The Metro Gaisano chain has three store formats. This includes  the latest addition of Fresh and Easy, a neighborhood store located near residential communities.

“We target to open eight to ten stores every year until 2015 featuring more modern store designs that adopt to  current market trends and offering more options for our shoppers,” said Gaisano./Reporter Aileen Garcia-Yap