Spanish grocery retailer Mercadona has chosen a 9,000 square metre plot in the municipality of Vila Nova de Gaia (Greater Porto area) for the first of four stores it plans to open in Portugal in 2019.
The supermarket will have a sales area of 1,800 metres square, plus additional space for employees, training classes and a car park.
Vila Nova de Gaia is one of the most populated municipalities in Portugal, with more than 302,000 inhabitants, of whom 180,000 are urban residents.
Mercadona plans to invest €25 million in the opening of the first four stores and the creation of 200 jobs, in addition to employees hired for each of the stores.
The future supermarket meets the characteristics of the new Efficient Store Model, which the retailer is developing in Spain to improve customer experience and optimise buying time.
It also enables energy savings of up to 40% compared to a traditional store due to thermal and acoustic insulation, through optimisation of materials and thickness of walls and ceilings, as well as new, more energy-efficient cooling cabinets. The efficient store also has an automated LED lighting system.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up for ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
