By Chrispin Inambao
WINDHOEK
Katima shoppers who for years have been the subject of exploitation at the hands of profiteers would be accorded more choice when it comes to shopping when Pick ‘n Pay opens a store stocked with a wide range of goods next week.
Patrick Hashingola, the Group Manager for Public Relations at the Ohlthaver & List Group, of which Pick ‘n Pay is a subsidiary, revealed the opening of the store in which the group has invested N$5.5 million and that would stock consumables, electronics and hardware.
The opening of the shop in a new building complex recently erected at the town would be the sixteenth shop in Namibia after fifteen other shops have already been opened in Windhoek, where there are already half a dozen, Swakopmund, Walvis Bay, Oshakati, Ondangwa, Oshikango and Otjiwarongo.
Pick ‘n Pay claims it offers cheaper groceries when measured by trolley when compared to its retail rivals in this cutthroat business.
Hashingola said when Terence Harty the Managing Director of Model Pick ‘n Pay officially opens it, the new store would have 36 permanent employees and 52 casuals, making it among the largest, if not the largest, employer in the retail sector at Katima Mulilo.
Amidst the pomp and circumstance expected to accompany the opening, bargain hunters and other shoppers will definitely gain from the many opening specials and discounts.
“The buying power is there.
“We recognized that this is a region with a lot of potential from a retailing perspective, and we want to expand to as many regions as possible,” he said.
“People there are very delighted already and we got many calls from people inquiring about when we are going to open because there was already a notion we would open this week,” he said.
The new store boasts a cosmetics section, hardware, clothing and in-store departments such as a bakery, butchery and hot-pot section selling cooked food and a snack variety.
He promised affordability and that consumers will enjoy their new shopping experience at the town where the prices of frozen chickens are triple in comparison to Windhoek.
Transport will not be a factor on prices because economies of scale would offset costs.
“There is a lot the inhabitants of Katima can look forward to. We are talking about affordability. They will enjoy it if they buy at our store in Katima; they won’t have to pay more than they pay in Windhoek because some retailers do not have the synergies and same infrastructure that we have. We have national prices,” said the Ohlthaver & List spokesman.
Pick ‘n Pay nationally employs 400 permanent workers and up to 700 casuals and it seems the sky is the limit for this shopping group as it continues to spread its wings.