A massive Massy superstore was opened in the MovieTowne compound at Turkeyen, East Coast Demerara yesterday and over 120 persons are employed at the location.
Customers will be able to access a range of goods including groceries, car accessories, electronics, household appliances and more at the “Massy Mega,” which is said to be the second in the Caribbean. The superstore also features a pharmacy, bakery and a deli. At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, it was stated that the store will cater for all ages and lifestyles as it aims to transform customers’ shopping experience.
David Affonso, the Chairman of the Massy Integrated Retail Business Unit, told the gathering, which included Minister of Finance Winston Jordan, that just over 50 years ago, the Massy Group started operations in the country, providing industrial equipment and over the years, has grown significantly. “Our investment in Guy-ana continues with the opening of the second store here at MovieTowne. This store represents a deepening of our investment in this market. It is also evidence of our continued commitment to Guyana and moreso, to the people of Guyana who we proudly serve,” Affonso said.
According to the chairman, for the year leading up to yesterday’s opening, Massy’s Guyana team benefitted from training facilitated by international and regional retail leaders. “Massy Mega Turkeyen is a one-of-a-kind retail location which will significantly diversify the country’s retail space in several ways,” he said.
Affonso recounted that the first Massy Mega was established in St Lucia some years ago and after learning from that, the Massy Group endeavoured to make the Guyana location better. “The Mega format is like a warehouse or club shopping experience which has become very popular in the US, where customers have the option to purchase a wide variety of items in larger quantities at very affordable prices,” he said.
According to the official, in the store’s conception, it was modeled as a supermarket but changed to suit Guyana’s changing business landscape. He highlighted that a wide range of non-food items not traditionally found in conventional supermarkets are available at the Massy Mega location. He also pointed out that Massy stores is aligned to the country’s sustainability agenda and implemented the use of reusable shopping bags instead of single use plastic bags at their stores.
Meantime, in giving the feature address, Jordan observed that the opening of the new Massy outlet marks yet another investment in Guyana by Trini-dadian entities. “Being considerably larger in geographic size, we in Guyana are not afraid of being tagged with the moniker, ‘Little Trinidad’. We are happy to welcome our closest Caribbean neighbour to these shores as we have done for several decades,” the minister said. He added that Guyanese are happy to welcome all of the Caribbean Com-munity (CARICOM) countries to invest, holiday, conduct business and even relocate to a safer country free of severe natural disasters.
Go-to country
On the note of natural disasters, the minister extended condolences to persons who would have lost family and friends to Hurricane Dorian which severely affected The Bahamas. He added that he hopes that Bahamians and other members of the CARICOM family see Guyana as the go-to country.
Meanwhile, he also highlighted Guyana’s growing economy. Jordan said that subsequent to the 4.1 per cent growth rate in 2018, Guyana recorded an economic growth rate of 4 per cent at the first half of 2019 and is set to grow by 4.5 per cent by the end of the year. He highlighted that the economy is slated to boom in the years ahead.
“From moderation to explosion, Guyana’s economy is projected to grow by 33.5 per cent in 2020 and 22.9 per cent in 2021…The achievements of such dizzying growth rates will signal Guyana’s emergence from the dark days of being the sick man of the Caribbean, perpetually trapped by ethnic and political conflicts, to the jewel of the Caribbean crown,” Jordan said.
“Our government does not see you as carpetbaggers, a derogatory term associated with scallywags and no-goods that was used by an increasingly frustrated and irritated opposition leader to describe investors coming to Guyana,” Jordan added, referring to Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo. He said that the APNU+AFC government is aware of the role that foreign investment plays in the growth and development of a country. According to the minister, as Guyana’s economy evolves, the government will continue to make efforts in facilitating foreign investors across all potential economic sectors in the country.
Due to the “improved governance and business climate” subsequent to the 2015 elections, Guyana recorded growth in foreign interest and foreign direct investments, Jordan stated. “These foreign direct investment flows have concentrated on the extractive sector, in particular, gold and bauxite mining and latterly, petroleum exploration. However…foreign direct investment grew in all sectors except in manufacturing. In keeping with our stated policy to diversify the economic bases of this country in order to avoid heavy dependence on the oil and gas sector, the government, through an attractive mix of policies and reform, is positioning the country to take advantage of the international interest in the recently discovered oil reserves to promote other sectors such as agriculture and tourism,” he declared.
The minister commended the Massy Group for their ability to remain profitable and relevant in Guyana over the years. He said that the company’s expansion in Guyana is evidence of their confidence in the economy’s future. He further praised the conglomerate on the strategic locations for both of its Massy stores in the country – the East Coast and East Bank corridors – saying that they are both slated for major developments as part of the government’s massive infrastructure overhaul.
“Another observation I wish to make about these two superstores is that they have been established away from the city centre. This is a clear indication that while still maintaining its premier status, the city can no longer be relied upon as an indicator for the strength of commercial business activity,” the minister observed.
Meantime, Massy Stores Operations Manager, Amit Kocher, told Stabroek News that they have employed 95 persons as junior staff and 27 persons in management positions, all Guyanese, at the Massy Mega. The staff members were trained by Massy’s specialists in areas such as meat cutting and knowledge of the special recipes for the bakery located in the complex. The specialists are expected to stay on for two weeks to provide extra training. Kocher said that in the sourcing of products, they would have found out what products can be sourced locally to be placed in the store. “The first objective was to find out what we could get from Guyana that we could bring into the store, so local produce was a big one,” the manager said. He indicated that fruits, vegetables and meats, along with a number of other items, were sourced locally before they turned elsewhere for items that they were unable to source here.
Kocher said that they have looked to Trinidad and the US, where the PriceSmart and Costco models respectively, have seemed to work, and adopted that model here. He told Stabroek News that with that model, persons will be able to purchase items at affordable prices in quantities to suit larger families. “We’re not really going after wholesale, what we’re trying to focus on is making an item more affordable to the customers for a greater saving for them. It’s just that you have to buy by a package,” he said.
When asked why the location was chosen, the Massy official said that Turkeyen was expected to be the first site for a Massy store in Guyana but following some setbacks, they established the supermarket at Providence first.
The Massy Stores Mega will be opened from Mon-days to Saturdays from 9am to 9pm and on Sun-days from 9am until 6pm.
In November 2014, a US$10M state-of-the-art distribution centre was commissioned by the Massy Group at Montrose on the East Coast.
