Arpico Supercentre spreads its wings to Matara

Tuesday, 11 February 2014 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The concept of lifestyle shopping created waves of excitement in the city of Matara, as the country’s only hypermarket made its grand entry to the Southern Province. The two storied “blue wonder” in a prominent location on the Matara main road, was decked in a sea of blue at the launch ceremony last week. Distinguished guests received a red carpet welcome, followed by a ceremony showcasing the deep rooted cultural identity of Southern Sri Lanka. From traditional dances to the famous southern delicacy curd and honey served in a clay pots, the heritage of the south was interwoven into the opening ceremony. In a heart warming address at the launch, the visionary Chairman of the Richard Pieris Group, Dr. Sena Yaddehige called out to people in Matara to treat this as their very own and to feel proud and satisfied about the lifestyle shopping experience at the Arpico Supercentre. “This is something I have waited a long time to give the people of the south, a dream come true,” he said. “I was born just 12 miles away from this Supercentre. And I went to school just 10 miles away from here,” said the Dr. Yaddehige. “This Supercentre was opened, with the intention of providing a unique shopping experience to the people of Matara, one they have not been used to so far,” he said. “Tell the people in Matara that this is theirs. They should be happy that they have a Supercentre in their city. They should patronise it,” he added.

The Matara Supercentre is the 15th store to be opened by the Richard Pieris Distributors and the first in the south, signifying the beginning of new life style shopping experience for the people of Matara. The response from the people of Matara to the new concept in shopping has been overwhelming. The state of the art 40,000 sq ft. Two-story, Supercentre with wide aisles to move shopping carts around with ease, spacious layout and a large car park with ample parking space, are all key factors which contribute to the sense of convenience and comfort to shoppers as they this new concept in shopping. The Supercentre has over 45,000 products all under one roof and the concept of getting everything you need, from fresh produce to food to household products, furniture, electronics, for a comfortable living all under one roof. With the development of the economy and its trickle-down effect to big cities outside Colombo, lifestyles and consumer demands also change rapidly. Convenience, range, courteous service and comfort take precedence over other factors in a society with busy schedules and a higher disposable income. Arpico Supercentre identified these future needs and changing lifestyles at a very early stage and moving beyond the supermarket concept, introduced the Hypermarket model to the country where all household good can be purchased under one single roof in convenience and comfort. Arpico Supercentres is large format hypermarket model with 15 Supercentres and Superstores and has 30 heritage showrooms spread across the country.