Bharti Walmart opens first store in South

Hindu Business Line - Vijayawada, Sept. 15: 

Bharti Walmart launched its operations in Andhra Pradesh on Thursday by inaugurating its first wholesale store in the State and also in South India here on Thursday. The second one would be opened soon at Guntur, according to Mr Raj Jain, CEO and Managing Director.

He inaugurated the store, Best Price, at Nidamanuru on the National Highway no. 5 on the outskirts of the town. He said the store here, spread over 53,000-sq. ft area, would be a one-stop shop for vendors, restaurants, institutions and offices, providing over 500 products including a wide range of fresh, frozen and chilled foods and vegetables, dry groceries, personal and home care items, hotel and restaurant supplies, apparel, and general merchandise.

Training centres

Mr Jain said the company would shortly open a training centre for the youth in the State in Hyderabad to teach them sales and consumer care. It had already set up three such training institutes in the country and the one in AP would be the fourth. 

He said Bharti Walmart would have direct contact with farmers to procure fresh produce and the company would also encourage farmers to form co-operative societies and be part of the Walmart trade. All efforts would be made to pay a remunerative price to the farmers and the growth of retail sector would definitely help farmers, he remarked.

Mr Jain also said the company would procure products from the self-help groups in Andhra Pradesh, especially handicrafts and other such products, and make them available to consumers through its stores.