Spanish grocery retailer Mercadona has commenced the process of hiring staff for a supermarket that is set to open in Maia, Portugal, in 2019.
This Portuguese city thus joins the other three locations in which Mercadona will start its operation in Portugal next year: Vila Nova da Gaia, Matosinhos and Gondomar.
All locations are in the Greater Porto area.
New Site
In Maia, Mercadona has selected a plot on which it will build a supermarket with a sales area of 1,800 square metres, as well as a parking lot that can accommodate more than 200 vehicles.
In Villa Nova da Gaia, Mercadona’s supermarket is to be developed on the site of the former Sport Clube de Canidelo facilities.
The Villa Nova da Gaia store will boast around 1,800 square metres of sales space. As part of the project and in the framework of its social responsibility initiative, Mercadona contributed to the construction of a new football stadium for the local club.
These new stores will be developed according to Mercadona's Efficient Store Model, which the company is developing in order to improve customers' shopping experience and reduce the impact of store activity on the environment (achieving energy savings of up to 40% compared to a traditional supermarket).
Strong Interest
Two weeks after it commenced contracting staff for stores in Portugal, Mercadona had already received more than 5,000 applications, the retailer revealed.
Those hired will receive initial training in Spain, where they will get up to speed on the retailer's Total Quality Model (a management model applied by Mercadona).
Logistics Park
In addition to the stores, the company is setting up a logistics center in the Laúndos Industrial Park, in the municipality of Póvoa de Varzim, to supply its operations in the region.
This unit will cover an area of more than 17,000 square metres and should be completed by January 2019, the retailer said.
Last September, Mercadona opened a 'co-innovation centre', where it is conducting tests aimed at defining the range of products it will sell in Portugal, according to national consumer preferences.
In June 2016, Mercadona announced its plans to enter the Portuguese market, estimating an investment of €25 million.
It has since established a headquarters for the business, Irmãdona Supermercados S.A., in Porto and hired 120 professionals for intermediate management positions in Portugal.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
