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BAHRAIN’S insatiable desire for shopping continues unabated with Géant confident it can woo customers with a regular supply of fresh produce and money-saving ‘WIGIG’ concept it believes will keep the competition on its toes and shoppers wanting more at its newest location.
The buy-it-now-before-it-goes philosophy paid off handsomely at the opening of the multi-national retailer’s new compact hypermarket at Wadi Al Sail Mall in Riffa as people of all ages and nationalities queued up patiently an hour before the doors opened for the first time.
Amongst the big draws were a 40-inch Full HD Sharp LED TV for less than BD70 and a 32GB Samsung Galaxy Note 5 at less than BD169, around half the normal retail prices, alongside special deals on a range of fruit and veg and other food items.
Mark Lack, Géant’s chief operating officer, was on hand for last Wednesday’s opening celebrations of the 3,000sq/m store, and confidently claimed: “We can offer customers a much larger range and a much wider assortment, especially on the fresh side.
“We normally have 20 per cent of fresh produce in a similar-sized store, but we’re actually 25-going-to-30 per cent and, another thing, we’ve added a non-food section. Normally, for a store of this size we would go for a supermarket but we decided to go for a compact hypermarket and offer what we call the ‘WIGIG’ … when it’s gone, it’s gone!
“We might have a supplier that has 200 or 300 televisions, like today, and we can bring them in and offer them at a really good price. But once it’s gone, it’s gone, so you have to keep looking and seeing what we’re doing. That’s a good reason to visit … and you’ve still got to buy your bananas, apples and chicken!”
Géant Hypermarket in Bahrain is a Fu-Com International venture in association with Groupe Casino of France, one of the largest hypermarket chain operators in the world. Géant opened its first store in Bahrain in May, 2001.
The steady flow of customers this week will also spell good news for all the outlets set to open in the impressive $40 million-plus mall which encompasses 38,000sq/m of retail space and will boast more than 40 shops, plus restaurants, alongside the recently opened Bahrain Cinema Company (Cineco) $6.5 million six-screen 809-seat cineplex.
Earlier this year, His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister, inaugurated the opening of the mall to mark the 48th anniversary of the Bahrain Defence Force (BDF).
During the ceremony, he noted that Bahrain’s retail sector continues to make a substantial contribution to the broader economy by creating jobs and attracting regional and international investments in the kingdom.
