Planet Retail 23 Oct 2009

Metro Group will start work next week on the first of potentially 23 cash & carry stores in Egypt, a move Egypt expects will help boost internal trade and cut prices. The company will operate in Egypt under the banner name Makro.

The ground breaking ceremony for the first store will take place on Tuesday in Cairo, said a spokesman for Metro Cash & Carry, adding that the store opening is scheduled for early next year but that it was difficult to say at the moment when and where the next stores would follow.

Metro originally intended to enter the market in late 2009 but then postponed it to 2010. The plan involves having a network of 12 cash & carries by 2012, with each store requiring investment in building, training, supplies and other costs of about EUR20 million (USD29.1 million). Last year, the group said it saw potential for ten cash & carries in the medium term and more than 20 in the long term in Egypt. The government has been seeking to improve internal trade throughout Egypt and hopes to encourage efficiency and lower costs for consumers.

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