people.jpg (Photo : ceh.com.cn)
Metro Cash & Carry, a Germany-headquartered international self-service wholesaler that operates across Europe and in some countries of Asia and Northern Africa, has opened its 750th global wholesale market in Chongqing.
The opening of the Chongqing store, Metro's 72nd in China, was part of the company's commitment to serve the Chinese market through expanding in the country.
"Metro Cash & Carry is committed to the Chinese market and aims to maintain the expansion momentum in the long term," said Metro Cash & Carry China's Managing Director Jeroen de Groot.
Chongqing is a fitting place for Metro's expansion because the municipality is home to more than 30 million people.
China is now the third biggest market of Metro by store numbers, trailing Germany, Metro's home country, and France. China shares the spot with Russia with 72 stores.
Last year, Metro opened 12 wholesale stores across China, setting a record in the company for the number of openings in a single country within one calendar year.
The German wholesaler is present in 29 countries and serves more than 20 million customers through the cash-and-carry concept, which is based on self-service and wholesale buying.
It is not surprising for Metro to stay committed on the Chinese market considering that its China sales revenue last year went up 23 per cent from a year earlier to US$2.46 billion. The figure is beyond comparison to the Metro Group's global sales growth of only 1.7 per cent.
Metro was one of the first German companies to enter the Chinese market. Today, Metro is present in over 46 cities, employs 10,000 workers, and serves more than 3.8 million customers.
