Metro Cash & Carry India, the local unit of German wholesale giant Metro Cash & Carry, will set up its store in Chennai soon. “We are on the lookout for a suitable space in and around Chennai for the purpose,” said Vishal Sehgal, Head (Corporate Relations).
The company, which commenced operations in India in 2003, has established its presence in nine States. Talking to media persons on the sidelines of an event here, Sehgal said Metro needs at least 2-3 acres to set up its facility, “which is difficult to find in this city for a reasonable price”.
Metro already procures several products from Chennai-based suppliers. The company plans to take its number of outlets to 50 by 2020, and with each store opening, it creates around 300 direct and indirect jobs, he added.
Metro Cash & Carry stocks over 20,000 SKUs (stock keeping units) of different products across categories such as fruits and vegetables, general grocery, dairy, bakery products, fish, meet, confectionery, detergent and cleaning supplies and stationeries. “We source 90 per cent of our products domestically,” Sehgal said.
Its core consumer base consists of kirana stores, hotels and commercial establishments. While star hotels procure products from meat and vegetables to groceries and crockery, and commercial establishments procure stationery and cleaning products in large quantity, kirana stores come for branded products.