Makro Ciputat in business again after two-year halt

Makro Ciputat in business again after two-year halt

CIPUTAT, Tangerang (JP): After being set on fire and looted in
the May 1998 riots, the Makro wholesale store in Ciputat reopened
its doors on Saturday on its old site.

Hours before the official public opening at midday, scores of
people were queuing in front of the newly refurbished outlet on
Jl. Juanda.

In a speech at the opening ceremony, Tangerang Regent Agus
Djunara hoped that Makro could provide real opportunities for
local traders in and around its store.

"I appreciate the initiative of the store in designating space
to street vendors and small-scale traders," Agus said before
marking the reopening of the store.

"Small-scale traders are valuable assets since they also
support large-scale traders," he added.

The regent also hoped the store would maintain a good
relationship with locals to avoid conflicts.

"On the other hand, I also hope local residents can establish
a conducive situation for businesses operating here," Agus said.

"Commercial activity brings benefits to residents. There will
be employment opportunities as well as significant development
progress," he added.

Run by Dutch-Indonesian joint venture chain operator PT Makro
Indonesia, the 8,000-square meter Ciputat outlet was initially
opened on Jan. 17, 1996. Built on a 5-hectare plot of land, the
store has a parking lot that can accommodate some 800 cars.

The Ciputat store is the biggest of its nine outlets currently
trading in Indonesia.

PT Makro Indonesia, which is 83 percent owned by Netherlands
retail chain operator SHV Holdings, spent Rp 60 billion (US$ 6.7
million) and four months refurbishing its Ciputat outlet, the
management said in a press release.

The management has equipped the store's surrounding wall with
barbed wire, which gives an impression more of a penitentiary
than a center of commerce.

Makro Indonesia's president Matthijs van der Lely said his
company was supporting small-scale businesses and cooperatives
under various schemes.

"We hold training sessions for businesses and cooperatives to
help improve their skills and provide adequate spaces for their
products," he said.

"The company has links with more than 1,000 suppliers. Most of
them are small and medium-scale enterprises," he added.

After the ceremony, Agus inspected the store. He was satisfied
to find most of the fresh food came from his regency. The
products include local fruits and vegetables, eggs and
traditionally prepared snacks.

"I want the store to promote more products from Tangerang,
such as soybean ketchup. My officials will provide a list of our
products which can be sold here," he told van der Lely.

Van der Lely said that Makro would first study the proposal.

Makro Ciputat general manager Tjahjono Juwono said that most
of his employees were local residents and had been with the
company since the store first opened.

"About 70 percent of our employees live in Ciputat and nearby
villages. We didn't fire them when the store was burnt but
transferred them to other outlets," he told The Jakarta Post.

"When they learned the Ciputat store was about to be reopened,
they asked to be transferred back here," he added.

Van der Lely expected that the new outlet would earn more than
it used to do.

"We expect to book more sales and profits than before," he
told reporters after the ceremony.

He also insisted that the Makro outlets In Indonesia, six in
Greater Jakarta and three others in Bandung, Surabaya and Bali,
were no threat to local retailers or foreign hypermarkets since
Makro had a specific market segment.

"We are targeting retailers and corporate users who purchase
in large quantities. We also use a membership system to filter
our buyers," he said.

"The hypermarkets also aren't our competitors because we're
playing on a different level," he added.

Not far from Makro Ciputat, there is a Hero supermarket and an
Alfa wholesale store.

Makro Indonesia, which started its operations in Indonesia
some eight years ago with an outlet in Pasar Rebo, East Jakarta,
is looking for a suitable site for another outlet in Bandung, as
well Semarang, Palembang, Batam, Makassar, and Balikpapan.

On Saturday, Makro said it would open its first Sumatra outlet
in the North Sumatra capital of Medan. (nvn)