Abdul Basit

Dubai – The value-added tax (VAT), implemented from January 1 2018 in the UAE, increased the prices of most of the grocery items by 5 per cent but Landmark Group’s new retail initiative brought down the prices of a range of private label quality grocery products to at least a 30 per cent.
The 44-year-old retailing Group, which owns Home Centre, Splash, Babyshop and Centrepoint, on Wednesday opened the UAE’s first discount supermarket chain Viva in Grand Avenue Retail and Residence, Sharjah. Viva is based on European no-frills supermarket chains such as Lidl and Aldi. The VIVA brand promises “FRESHER, CHEAPER, BETTER shopping to its customers.”

“This is a very good time to start as the market has matured, and as VAT has come in and people are more conscious of what they are spending,” Renuka Jagtiani, chairwoman and chief executive of Landmark, told reporters at the opening of the first food discounter in the UAE.
“Our promise is the offering of a range of private label quality products for at least a 30 per cent cheaper shopping experience that will lead to savings to consumers that have never been seen before,” Georg Fischer, the newly appointed chief executive of Viva, told reporters. He joined Landmark Group from UK-listed supermarket retailer Tesco.
The group opened initial four Viva stores – two in Sharjah, one in Dubai and one in Ajman. A further 11 stores are expected to open this year, with lease agreements signed on 10 sites so far across the UAE, according to Landmark Group.
“Our business model is based on bulk buying at cost, direct from the manufacturer, and 80 per cent of Viva’s 1,200 products will be exclusive to Landmark. The remaining 20 per cent of products are established European or Asian brands,” Fischer informed.

Inaugurating the first store of VIVA, Jagtiani, said: “Landmark Group has been built on the philosophy of listening to our customers and enriching their lives by offering meaningful quality products to them, that brings them a great value. The launch of VIVA is one more step in our journey to create value in the communities we serve.
“VIVA has been conceptualised keeping our customers at heart. By offering people the best quality household products at exceptional prices, our aim is to bring smiles to the community, and support the larger vision of the government to add happiness to the customer and the people of this country.”Georg J. Fischer, CEO, VIVA, said: “A food discounter concept is powerful and disruptive; customers will experience a different way of shopping where the highest quality at cheapest prices is found in a compact format all at one place. They get in and out of our stores effortlessly thus saving them time and money.
“The products at VIVA have been hand-picked by a team of experienced professionals, sourced from the best markets in Europe and Asia, offering only the freshest and highest quality to our customers in the Middle East.

“Our promise is the offering of a range of private label quality products for at least a 30 per cent cheaper shopping experience which will lead to savings to consumers that have never been seen before.”
VIVA opened its doors to customers with exciting activities and rewards, such as the FIRST 100 customers who received Golden Gifts from VIVA comprising of 55-inch LED TVs, digital gadgets, electrical appliances, VIVA food hampers, cash vouchers and many more, in every store. In addition, customers also got AED10 discount vouchers and free products to take home. -abdulbasit@theuaenews.com