OREANDA-NEWS. On 08 May 2009 was announced, that METRO Cash & Carry Ukraine opened its second in Kharkiv region wholesale store brining the country network to 25 stores already on the sixth year of its operations.

With UAH 225 Mio. investment into the purchasing of the land plot and construction of its new store in Kharkiv region METRO Cash & Carry created 300 new jobs for local citizens. Together with its first store in the city on Gagarina Avenue street that opened in 2004 the company’s total investment into the region exceeds UAH 320 Mio. and the number of new jobs created in two Kharkiv stores amounts to 600.

Located on the 8.8 ha land plot on 8 Kiltseva Road, Mala Danylivka urban village, Kharkiv region the new wholesale store has been constructed by Skorpion-RP Ltd. as general contractor together with 15 local construction and design companies. To align the store’s floor level with regional construction requirements the company removed 500.000 cubic m. of land.

With total area of 17.000 square meters the wholesale store is equipped with spacious parking lot for 343 cars, of which 112 are roofed. On a net sales area of 9.000 square meters the new METRO Cash & Carry store offers its professional customers a wide assortment of 29.000 food and non-food products under one roof at best possible wholesale prices.

METRO Cash & Carry Ukraine cooperates with over 1.300 suppliers sourcing over 90% of its food and non-food products from Ukrainian producers, distributors and importers. The company intends to intensify its co-operation with local producers, especially in fresh categories. Currently METRO co-operates with 36 food and non-food suppliers from Kharkiv region.

“With this opening METRO Cash & Carry Ukraine has reached a special milestone. Despite these turbulent times we continued our expansion in the country opening in Kharkiv region our 25th store”, said Jan Dunning, Managing Director of METRO Cash & Carry Ukraine. “Successful operation of our first store in the city shows that our wholesale concept is well appreciated by local professional customers. We are confident that our stable wide assortment at best wholesale prices will contribute to the further development of small and medium-sized businesses in the region”.

After the opening ceremony 150 owners of local restaurants, hotels, bars, catering companies and traders participated in the HoReCa & Trade conference. The participants learnt about the METRO wholesale formula, loyalty programs and special services developed exclusively for HoReCa customers and traders. For them the company organized product and wine tasting, in particular presenting the products sold under its own brands Aro and HoReCa Select.