Metro Retail opens in Negros

Metro Retail Stores Group Inc. (MRSGI) is strengthening its hold in the Visayas retail market with the opening of its first store in Negros Oriental.

MRSGI said in a stock exchange filing Monday that it entered into a 25-year lease agreement with the local government of Bais, Negros Oriental. It said it would lease a building owned by the city government of Bais, which will be turned over in March 2017. The leading Visayas retailer plans to build a hypermarket, offering food and general merchandise retail.

“We are very much excited to serve the growing city of Bais and we see a lot of opportunities for mutual growth,” MRSGI chair and CEO Frank S. Gaisano said in the filing.

This was in line with the company’s plan to double its retail footprint in five years. MRSGI operates 49 stores across the supermarket, department store, and hypermarket formats.

It recently signed an agreement with Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) for the establishment of its stores in four new Ayala commercial developments in Capitol Central in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental; in Mandurriao, Iloilo City; in Central Bloc in Cebu City, and in the Ayala Malls Feliz in Pasig City.