JEDDAH, 30 September 2005 — Shoppers thronged in thousands on the opening day of Geant hypermarket at its location near the Aeroplane roundabout here on Wednesday and also yesterday, with many of them purchasing cartloads of food and non-food items. Most of the families said they had found the “best place” to shop for Ramadan.
“It’s a super hypermarket,” said Ibrahim M. Al-Amoudi, an executive of Saudi Arabian Airlines. “I never imagined that prices could be as low as I’ve seen for some of the items that I usually shop elsewhere,” he said taking a look at the vast space of the hypermarket.
According to him, prices are “unbelievably low,” and he had the best of bargains for a TV set of a popular brand. “I’ve paid SR150 less for this set than what I would have paid to a dealer in Balad,” he said.
Likewise, prices of vegetables, bakery items, and fruits are less than anywhere else, said Abdullah Al-Amri, a Saudi executive with a leading automobile dealer.
A shopper who walked out with a carton of a popular brand of oats said: “I’ve bought an entire carton as I find it’s priced 40 percent less than in other supermarkets.”
Abdul Raza Choudhry, a Pakistani engineer working with a contracting firm, said he had saved 15 to 20 percent by shopping at this store.
There was such a huge turnout of shoppers on the opening day that there was traffic jam on the road leading to Madinah Road. Yesterday, the turnout was bigger and security men were seen turning away youths who were trying to gain entry. “If you have not come with your family, please go away,” a security man was screaming repeatedly.
“We had 50,000 shoppers yesterday (opening day) and up to 70,000 today (Thursday),” Geant Saudi Ltd.’s Chief Executive Officer Mohammed Adil told Arab News. Geant’s first hypermarket opened in Dhahran in April and subsequently in Riyadh.
The store, with 60 cash counters, all manned by Saudis, has 55,000 food and non-food items under one roof. The “unique” feature of the hypermarket is that it deals in products that have very high brand equity. Shoppers could also get the advantage of several product promotions. “We also have seasonal promotions to mark Ramadan, Eid Al Adha and Eid Al Fitr, and back-to-school,” Adil said, adding that the vast space of the hypermarket, that is part of Aziz Mall, has a parking area for 2,000 cars.
Geant is a more than 100-year-old French company whose objective is to offer “best price guarantees at any time,” Adil said, adding that the price offers now made will continue and are not limited to mark the store’s opening. The store also caters to the needs of expats from certain countries. There are dedicated sections that offer vegetables, fruits and other food items for expats from the Philippines and other Far Eastern countries, the Indian Subcontinent, and Europeans and Americans. Geant plans to have four more stores in Jeddah and 11 others elsewhere in the Kingdom in the next 24 months. Geant is present in 17 countries with more than 4,000 outlets.
Geant Saudi is a result of a strategic alliance of Groupe Casino, one of the largest hypermarket companies of the world, and Fawaz A. Al Hokair Group, one of the largest retail chain companies in the Middle East, with more than 42 leading international retail brands under its portfolio. “Geant’s focus is to become the leading hypermarket chain in the Kingdom offering the highest standards in product, range, cost and quality in the retail segment for the customers and suppliers, said Adil who has earlier worked in Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Bahrain.
The Al Hokair company has emerged as one the region’s largest fashion retailers having more than 450 outlets with 42 international brands.
