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Este informe no está disponible en español. CARIBBEAN BUSINESSFood Price To Anchor Outlet Mall, Add Two StoresBY TAINA ROSANovember 22, 2001 Atilano Cordero Badillo, owner of Grande supermarkets and the new Food Price food-warehouse concept in Salinas, will build a 120,000-square-foot outlet mall right next to the Salinas Food Price, which opened last Friday. He also told CARIBBEAN BUSINESS that he plans to open two more Food Price stores at other locations. "This outlet mall will give priority to locally owned retail chains that offer low prices. In fact, I’m going to make sure that they offer the lowest prices. There are some outlets in the U.S. where people think that they’re going to get a good bargain because they are called outlets. Then, they discover that prices are just as high as in regular stores. This will not happen here," he said. According to Cordero Badillo, Salinas does not need expensive shopping malls. What this municipality and others surrounding it need are stores that offer economical prices. "That’s why we will plan the outlet mall in such a way that we start saving money from the moment we begin construction. Only then will we be able to pass on savings to the area’s consumers–mainly middle- and low-income families," he added. Food Price, the new $7 million food warehouse concept developed by Grande Supermarkets owner Atilano Cordero Badillo, was a smash hit on its first day of operations last Friday in Salinas. Cordero Badillo said this proves the need that exists for this type of low-price concept in Puerto Rico and that Salinas is a strategic retail business setting. As a result, he is planning on opening two more Food Price stores, the sites of which he would not disclose but said had already been eyed. Last Friday CARIBBEAN BUSINESS witnessed the crowds of shoppers flocking to the new Food Price near Salinas’ Camp Santiago. Even Cordero Badillo was surprised with the outcome. "I did not know it was going to be so full. It just proves that this sort of concept, which targets middle & low income homes and small local businesses, is needed here," he said. These projects promise to do a lot of good for the economy of Salinas and adjacent municipalities, according to Cordero Badillo. "In Salinas the unemployment rate is estimated at about 40% and in Food Price alone we employ more than 200 people," he said, adding that the Grande Supermarket in Salinas will probably be remodeled in the near future. This Caribbean Business article appears courtesy of Casiano Communications.
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