Metro Cash & Carry India, one of the leaders in self-service business-to-business wholesale, has opened its first wholesale distribution center in Ludhiana, Punjab. Spread over four acres the wholesale center has a selling space of approximately 60,000 sq feet and showcases over 10,000 articles (food and non-food) for hotels, restaurants, caterers, traders and small offices.
Opened with an investment of approximately Rs. 60 crores this is Metro’s seventh wholesale center in India. The center will operate from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm.
Speaking on the occasion, Rajeev Bakshi, Managing Director, Metro Cash & Carry India, said: “Our Ludhiana wholesale center opens its doors to customers today. Customer centricity is a key focus at Metro. We offer customised solutions to meet unique business needs of the market. We tailor our assortment to the needs of our registered business customers and most of our products are sourced from local suppliers. Metro also conducts training programs to support various target groups including traders, chefs, restaurant owners, caterers and dhabas. Through these initiatives we aim to build a deep level of engagement with our customers in Punjab.”
Metro organizes several programs such as Metro Bandhan, a loyalty program to offer a range of privileges and value added services to regular customers; Dhaba support program to help dhabas become more competitive and customer friendly and Metro Trader Support and Partnership program for Traders and Chefology. The company plans to introduce more training programmes in the future.
Metro Cash & Carry entered the Indian market in 2003. The company currently operates six wholesale distribution centres, including two each in Bangalore and Hyderabad, and one each in Mumbai and Kolkata. The company is present in 30 countries with around 700 self-service wholesale centers. With more than 100,000 employees worldwide, the company achieved sales of about € 31 billion in 2010. Metro Cash & Carry is a sales division of the Metro Group. Each Metro wholesale center creates over 150 direct and 150 indirect job opportunities in the respective states.
-IndiaRetailing Bureau
