Botswana’s leading Supermarket group, Choppies, on Thursday opened another store in Lephalale town, Limpopo Province, as part of spreading its footprints in South Africa and in the region.
The Choppies South Africa Chief Executive Officer, Deon Bauermeister, revealed that the store has 2690 square metre and consists of 90 local employees as well as 16 till points of sale.
Bauermeister said the store has stock of the total value of R6 million and the investment of about R8 million, including the stock.
He stated that currently there are 11 Choppies stores in South Africa and added that the group is also expecting to open another store in April. The Lephalele outlet is located in the city centre at Marula Mile shopping Complex.
Handing over food hampers to charitable organizations, Bauermeister said the gesture, which has now become a common feature of Choppies regular corporate social responsibility practice among underprivileged communities, was borne of compassion and the desire for just and caring nation.
“This is an on-going thing as we target the community on several social responsibilities,” he said.
The store was officially opened by Lephalale Mayor Ms Mojela and CEO Ramachandran Ottappath. Majela stated that Choppies came to Limpopo Province at the right time for the benefit of employment creation.
She highlighted the fact that, as political leaders, they encourage businesses to grow as they are beneficial to every economy. “Working together we can do more to assist the government,” she said.
Mojela also congratulated and appreciated the Choppies Group for their positive contribution, which will continue to add value to the economy of the country. She asked the staff to be productive in the industry. She asked consumers to keep supporting Choppies because of their record of giving back to the community.
The group marketing executive, Otsile Marole, stated that the last recent opening of the chain store in South Africa was three weeks ago in Delareyville.
She stated that the Choppies Group has always been customer focused with customer satisfaction.
“We have been responding to customer’s needs and expectations,” she said. The opening of the store was witnessed by a large crowd of shoppers making best use of the cheap grocery special for the Easter holidays.
Choppies is the market leading mass grocery retailer in the country and retails fast moving goods, household goods, fruit and vegetables, meat products through its chain of stores located in both South Africa and Botswana. The company currently employs an excess of 3 900 people in Botswana and 600 others in neighbouring South Africa.
