Metro Cash and Carry

Metro logo

Makro logo

METRO Cash & Carry is the international leader in self-service wholesale operating across Europe and in some countries of Asia and Northern Africa. It is the largest sales division of the German trade and retail giant METRO AG.

METRO Cash & Carry is different from large retail chains such as Billa and Carrefour in that its stores are primarily targeted towards professional customers rather than end consumers. The cash-and-carry concept is based around self-service and bulk buying. To be able to shop at METRO customers need to be duly registered and be issued a card which shows that they are eligible to buy at METRO Cash & Carry. METRO Cash & Carry's customers include retailers, hotels, restaurants, caterers and other business professionals.

International operations

As of 2007, METRO Cash & Carry has operations in the 29 countries listed below.

Country	First hypermarket	Number of hypermarkets
Germany	1964	120
France	1971	86
Italy	1972	47
Spain¹	1972	34
China	1996	34
United Kingdom¹	1971	33
Russia	2001	31
Poland¹	1994	25
Romania	1996	23
Netherlands¹	1968	16
Ukraine	2003	16
Hungary	1994	13
Austria	1971	12
Czech Republic¹	1997	12
Portugal¹	1990	10
Turkey	1990	10
Belgium¹	1970	9
Bulgaria	1999	8
Morroco	1991	7
Greece¹	1992	7
Vietnam	2002	7
Denmark	1971	6
Croatia	2001	6
Serbia	2005	5
Slovakia	2000	5
India	2003	5
Japan	2002	3
Moldova	2004	3
Pakistan	2006	1

¹ operates under the brand name Makro

Bulgaria

The first two METRO Cash and Carry hypermarkets in Bulgaria opened in Sofia and Plovdiv on 18 March 1999. As of 2006 the company operates eight stores in seven cities:

A number of other stores are planned.

India

The first METRO Cash & Carry wholesale center in India opened in Bangalore in 2003. Currently there are 3 wholesale centers in operation, two in Bangalore ^[1] and one in Hyderabad ^[2]which was opened on 30th November 2006. Plans for Mumbai ^[3] and Calcutta ^[4] are underway.

Pakistan

Image:BoM MCC PK.jpg

Board of Directors, METRO Cash & Carry Pakistan

METRO Cash & Carry announced its operations in Pakistan in January 2006 with the first wholesale center scheduled to open on 24th October (God Willing) 2007 in Lahore with an investment of €15 million. The company plans to open wholesale centers in all major cities of the country in the medium term. These cities include Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Gujranwala and Hyderabad.

The Board of Directors include:
Mr. Giovanni Soranzo - Managing Director/Director Procurement & Merchandising Director, Non-Food
Mr. Geoffery Griffiths - Director Administration
Mr. Rein Vervoort - Director Operations
Mr. Atila Yenisen - Director Procurement & Merchandising Director, Food
The company employs a further 120 local employees at its head office in Lahore.

The first METRO Cash & Carry Pakistan wholesale center will open on Multan Road, Lahore near Thokar Niaz Beg (WikiMapia). The groundbreaking ceremony for the location took place on April 4th 2007 in presence of the Chief Minister of the Punjab, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and Lahore City District Nazim, Mian Amer Mahmood.

Poland

The first Makro Cash and Carry shop was opened in Warsaw, Sosnowiec and Łódź in 1994. Now the copmany has 25 stores in:

Romania

METRO Cash and Carry was one of the first international food and non-food retail chains to enter the Romanian market, opening its first store in Bucharest, near Henri Coandă International Airport.

As of 2007, it operates 23 stores in major cities across the country and is one of the most well-known chains. Metro has stores in the following cities:

The supermarket in Oradea is one of the most successful of the branches and has been especially popular with Hungarians, who are crossing the border to buy products from the hypermarket since prices are significantly cheaper in Romania than in Hungary. This phenomenon has mainly started since Hungary joined the European Union, an occurrence which has increased prices in Hungary.

Serbia

The first Metro Cash and Carry store in Serbia opened in Belgrade in 2005. As of 2006 the company operates five stores in four cities:

Belgrade stores are located in Zemun and Krnjača.

Ukraine

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