Ramayana enters Batam

JAKARTA (JP): The publicly-listed PT Ramayana Lestari Sentosa retail chain opened a 5,000-square-meter department store at the Mal Jodoh Marina on Batam island yesterday.

"The new Ramayana Department Store is our second retail center outside Java after the 4,000-square-meter outlet, which we opened at Kuta Center in Bali in the middle of this month," Ramayana's President Agus Makmur said yesterday.

Makmur said that though Batam, as a bonded zone, is wide open to imports, our the Ramayana Department Store on that island would uphold our company's strong commitment to promoting domestic products.

"Our retail chain will remain entirely under the management of locally-trained human resources and operate as the sales center for domestic products," Makmur added.

The new outlet in Batam increased the number of stores in the Ramayana chain to 23, of which 21 are located in Java. (vin)