GrandMart Supermarket opens at Grand Anse Mahé |04 December 2021
• Brings new shopping experience to customers
People living in Grand Anse, Port Glaud, the south and western areas of Mahé in general now have a new supermarket closer to them providing a new shopping experience in a warm and friendly environment with the opening of GrandMart yesterday morning.
Situated in the same building which formerly housed the STC outlet, GrandMart Supermarket expects to bring relief, choice and variety in terms of products to people in the area.
The chief executive of GrandMart, a brand name registered under KPV(PTY) Ltd, is Veronique Laporte.
During the soft opening of the supermarket yesterday friends in business, family members, suppliers, district leaders among other guests had gathered to witness the event.
Ms Laporte’s daughter, Emma, and the children of two other directors of GrandMart cut the ribbon to open the supermarket.
“GrandMart is a company set up by three colleagues and this is the first supermarket we are opening. We welcomed the opportunity to do business here and serve the community at Grand Anse,” said Ms Laporte.
She noted that her team of 18 experienced employees started working in the supermarket on November 10.
“In less than a month this group of people put together a supermarket from scratch and I am really very proud of you,” said Ms Laporte.
In terms of products, Ms Laporte noted that at the moment apart from a few air-freighted products, all the goods in the supermarket have been purchased locally. We have the farmers and producers as well as local suppliers who are importing their products and supplying us. So we have a mix of products. Our priority is to serve the community of Grand Anse, neigbouring communities as well as everybody else coming from afar,” said Ms Laporte.
She further noted that 80% of products on the shelves are basic household products while the remaining 20% is a mix variety.
Ms Laporte revealed that the GrandMart team has many plans and products will definitely change but she noted that over the next three months products will remain the same because they are facing a lot of challenges “because we are relying a lot on local suppliers who also have their own challenges”.
She added that it will probably be by February that clients of GrandMart will see some different products on the shelves.
Meanwhile Ms Laporte has revealed that the GrandMart wholesale outlet will be built at the back of the building housing the supermarket and is expected to open by the end of January.
“We are doing what we can to serve the community by bringing services closer to them while we continue to improve our services. In terms of services, I would like to thank Airtel, Absa and Cable & Wireless for joining with us to bring services closer to the community,” said Ms Laporte.
She further noted that GrandMart has invested a lot in its IT network and will eventually launch its e-commerce and other services but yesterday during the opening ceremony, Ms Laporte launched GrandMart’s loyalty card.
“Anybody shopping for more than R1000 yesterday should keep their receipt and follow the procedures at the shop so they would be contacted next week to collect their card. In the couple of weeks we will also start different programmes to benefit customers,” said Ms Laporte.
She took the opportunity to thank everyone who have been committed and devoted their time to ensure that the supermarket opens.
Parick Thomas and Kaushal Patel, two directors of GrandMart, received tokens of appreciation for all their hard work.
Following the opening of the supermarket guests present flocked in to see what the new supermarket has to offer and started buying items that have not been available for some time in other shopping outlets. These included a variety of cheese, ham, yogurt as well as fruits and vegetables among other products.
“It’s really a new shopping experience with a wider choice of products to choose from and with Christmas approaching I am sure we will have all we need close to our doorstep,” one lady told me.
Egbert Aglae, MNA for neigbouring district of Port Glaud who was among guests who witnessed the opening and had a chance to tour the new outlet noted that the opening is timely with the festive season around the corner.
“It was necessary to have a supermarket to fill the gap left by the closure of the STC outlet. It will be a relief for customers in the region as it will cut down on the cost of transportation for them as they will no longer have to travel far for all they need,” Mr Aglae said.
The accompanying photos show some highlights of yesterday’s launch ceremony.
Marie-Anne Lepathy
Photos by Louis Toussaint
