Carrefour opens new outlet in Ratu Plaza

JAKARTA (JP): French hypermarket chain New Carrefour opened a new outlet in Ratu Plaza in South Jakarta on Wednesday as part of its expansion program in Indonesia.

The group invested some US$5 million in the 7,600-square-meter outlet in Ratu Plaza, despite uncertainties in the country's economic and political situations.

"In the hope to be close to consumers, we plan to establish more outlets in Jakarta as well as outside of Jakarta," said Jean-Luc Montembault of PT Contimas Utama Indonesia, the operator of Continent Indonesia.

The group which has a total store space of 50,000 square meters and 2,600 employees in Indonesia, has invested Rp 400 billion ($53 million) to support its operation in the country.

The New Carrefour currently operates six outlets in Jakarta. They are located in Cempaka Putih, Duta Merlin, Cempaka Mas, all in Central Jakarta; Pasar Festival in South Jakarta, and in Pluit Megamall in North Jakarta.

"As part of our commitment, we plan to establish all- Indonesian managements in our outlets and a partnership program with local suppliers to seek a win-win solution with the local retail industry," said Handy Lim, the senior development manager of PT Cartisa Properti Indonesia, which operates Carrefour Indonesia.

Handy said they were involved with about 35 small local companies that supplied the outlets with fresh vegetables, fruits, fish and meat.

Regarding allegations that Carrefour and Continent are dumping their goods in an effort to drive out the competition, the group said they simply offered competitive prices and benefited by buying in volume, allowing it to receive large discounts from suppliers.

"In that way, we can give lower prices to our customers. We really wish for fair competition with local players in the retail industry, since we are newcomers to the retail industry here," the business development manager of PT Contimas Utama Indonesia, Trijono Prijosoesilo, said.

The Association of Indonesian Retailers imposed retail zone restrictions in 1999, limiting the size of retail outlets operating within 15 kilometers of the city center.

"We have already been permitted by the government authorities to open new outlets in the heart of city," Handy said.

Foreign hypermarket chains have come under criticism as small and traditional retailers located near their outlets have lost customers to the hypermarkets.

Carrefour and Continent announced a friendly merger in January, following the merger of their holding companies in France in August 1999.

The merger of French retailer Promedes, which is the holding company of Continent, and Carrefour will soon put the Carrefour brand in all Continent outlets.

"Right now, the new group is managed by PT Cartisa Properti Indonesia, PT Carti Satria Megaswalayan and PT Contimas Utama Indonesia", Trijono said.

The group resulting from the merger had worldwide sales totaling $56 billion in 1999 and owned 9,061 stores in 26 countries, making it the second largest retailer in the world. (07)