MERLION brings another retail project to the regions

The total area of the new store is more than 3,000 square meters, whereof 2,000 will be occupied by the warehouse premises. Such an area ratio is standard for the CITILINK project format and constitutes a strategically elaborate decision.

The warehouse, located directly on the territory of the store, allows us to maintain the full-rate stock reserve, thus providing the customers with an opportunity to purchase pre-reserved goods quickly and, what is most important, it makes the acquisition ascertained. In spite of the fact that purchase is performed in remote, virtual mode, the customers acquire real goods out of the huge range, - Sergey Kovalenko, General Manager of CITILINK project, commented.

CITILINK electronic discounter (Saint-Petersburg) will constitute the traditional format – a store with electronic terminals installed in it for selection of the goods and ordering, cash desks, goods delivery and inspection area. Apart from the traditional facilities for purchase, the store space will accommodate a showroom for presentation of new products, and a section for execution of contracts with representatives of small and medium size business (SMB).

According to the project plan, over 10 points of CITILINK mini will be opened throughout Saint-Petersburg in 2011. Mini-points of sale will copy Moscow kiosks with terminals and small outlay. It is planned to open CITILINK mini-points of order and delivery of the goods in the residential districts of the city and the most crowded areas. Such proximity of the store to the buyers provides additional support to the project. According to the forecasts of project leaders, by 2012, the stream of the buyers, purchasing the goods via CITILINK mini-points of sale will exceed 1,000 people per day. And the number of buyers of the main store can make over 2,000 people per day (Note: Moscow - 19 CITILINK mini-points now serve over 800 people per day, and over 1,800 people buy their goods in the store on Amurskaya st, 7 every day).

Before the end of 2010 CITILINK project plans to enter two more Russian cities – Nizhniy Novgorod and Novosibirsk.

Sergey Kovalenko explained the reason why these very cities, in particular, have been selected as path-breakers. Petersburg – is a complicated solution in terms of implementation, but necessary from the status view point. Nizhniy Novgorod and Novosibirsk meet our requirements by the market volume, apart from that, there are favorable personnel conditions, which ensure manageability at this stage and create prerequisites for further development.

According to the forecasts of CITILINK project management company, investments made for opening of the stores in the three regional cities will pay back during the first year of their operation.