Gulfmart’s First Fahaheel branch to re-launch on Monday
Gulfmart, the largest and fastest growing supermarket chain in Kuwait, is continuing its rebranding and revamping initiative with the launch at 6.30pm on Monday, 18th February, 2013, of its fully refurbished first Fahaheel branch by H.E. Satish C. Mehta the Indian Ambassador to Kuwait.In late November, 2012, Gulfmart announced that it had begun launching a new identity for all its existing and new supermarkets. The rebranding, which includes a new logo, lettering, livery and other marketing collateral, aims to give the brand a reinvigorated fresh image and unite all its supermarkets under a common theme. Concurrent with its rebranding exercise, Gulfmart is also engaged in a major renovation drive that will see several of its existing branches refitted and equipped to bring them on par with newer outlets being launched across the country.
“In this era of hyper-competitiveness in the retail industry, customers expect to receive a superior retail experience whenever and wherever they do their shopping,” said Dr. Remesh T.A., Country-Head of Gulfmart. He added, “By implementing modern design layouts, advanced retail techniques and equipment, as well as introducing efficient utilization of floor-space, visually appealing merchandizing and other customer amenities and facilities, we aim to boost the retail experience for our customers.”
Elaborating on the rebranding and renovations, Dr. Remesh said, “The restoration and new branding of our first Fahaheel branch, which initially opened nearly five years ago in 2008, has dramatically altered the exterior and interior of the store. Along with refreshing new external signage, the 25,000 square feet of internal floor area has been completely done up; every aspect of the restoration process has been undertaken with the aim of enhancing customer convenience and improving overall shopping ambiance for shoppers. From wider aisles, easily accessible shelves and clearer signage to more departments stocking a greater variety of products, we have introduced a variety of changes to the shopping environment as well as product offering. A newly laid out fresh butchery fishery and an extensive fresh produce area, along with electronics, garments and household departments have added to the merchandize assortment and augmented shopping at the store.”
While apologizing to customers for the inconvenience caused by the renovation work, the country manager was quick to point out, “Despite ongoing work we made sure that the store did not have to close down for even a single day, as any disruption in our normal services would have resulted in greater hardship for our patrons. Running daily retail operations and conducting renovation work simultaneously was successfully achieved due to the meticulous planning and execution by our in-house Projects and Departments division, headed by Yusuf Bhatti. The success of this project has encouraged us to introduce the same concept when we embark on refurbishment at Jleeb Al-Shyoukh One and Jleeb Al-Shyoukh Two, as well as Salmiya One, in the near future.”
“As we stand poised on the threshold of an assertive expansion drive that will see tens of branches added to the chain, both locally in Kuwait and in the wider GCC region, I am extremely grateful to all our patrons in Kuwait whose unstinted support throughout the years has been the key to our success,” said Arif Shaikh, Managing Director of Gulfmart Group. “The ongoing success in Kuwait, as well as our optimistic outlook on retail business in the region, has prompted us to finalize plans on opening dozens of new stores in different size formats across Kuwait and the region by the end of 2015. On the regional level, we will be opening hypermarkets and supermarkets in the Kingdom of Bahrain and in UAE, added the Managing Director.
Shedding more light on Gulfmart’s rebranding exercise Dr. Remesh added, “The previous logo, which had been in use since 1999 and had served to firmly establish the brand in the country, needed a makeover in order to mirror our assertive new expansion plans and highlight our brand pillars of freshness, variety, value and service. The entire rebranding process is also part of our strategic drive to enliven the brand image and give it a contemporary look as we embark on establishing Gulfmart not just as a major player in Kuwait, but also across the regional retail landscape.”
“The stylishly rendered new green leaf logo projects the freshness of our produce, while the elegant and modern two-toned lettering reflects the brand’s youthful verve and dynamism. The green color theme has a lot of connotations, not least of which is its association with growth, renewal, freshness and revival. Also today, green is no longer just a color, it has transformed into a verb with ecological nuances that identify it with the preservation and sustaining of environment for future generations. It is these qualities that we aim to portray with our new brand image,” concluded Dr. Remesh.
The rapid growth of Kuwait retail market in recent years, fueled by changing lifestyles and rising income, has propelled Gulfmart from a fledgling grocery retailer in 1999 to a flourishing multi-million dollar supermarket chain today. Successfully operating sixteen strategically located branches in different retail formats across Kuwait reveals the brand’s popularity in the market, and attests to the commitment and dedication of staff and management. In the pipeline are plans to open a third mini-supermarket in Salmiya and another mini supermarket in the residential district of Mahboula. Large-format supermarkets to be launched shortly include a third branch in Fahaheel of 30,000 sq ft, a second branch in Khaitan of similar area and a 10,000 sq ft third outlet in Hawally.
On the occasion of re-launching Fahaheel One, the top management and staff of Gulfmart thanked customers for their unwavering support in the past, adding that the rebranding and revamping initiative would further help differentiate the brand from its competitors and continue to offer customers a comprehensive range of good quality products at competitive prices.
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