Cherry Foodarama to reopen, now under SM management

MANILA, Philippines – SM Investments Corporation (SMIC) said in a statement Monday, October 12 that it will reopen the two branches of newly acquired Cherry Foodarama stores this week in time for the fourth quarter holiday spending.

In a statement, SMIC’s subsidiary SM Markets said Cherry Shaw will reopen on October 13 while Cherry Congressional will open again its doors to customers on October 15. It did not say though when will it reopen the third store, Cherry Antipolo.

All Cherry supermarkets were closed down on June 25 after it was acquired by SM Investments from the Ong family. (READ: SM to seal deal with Cherry Foodarama in June)

Cherry Foodarama has been in the business since the early 1950s and is considered one of the pioneers in the grocery business. The supermarket chain has been known to offer Filipino consumers low prices for local and imported brands and food items.

SM Markets said the reopened Cherry stores have had makeovers to keep up with the times. “And though their appearance has changed and they are now part of the SM Markets family, every visit to Cherry Shaw and Cherry Congressional is guaranteed to be sweet as cherry just like the old days,” SM Markets said.

SM Markets said Cherry Shaw and Congressional have wider offerings of fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, poultry, and seafood, plus new new assortments of groceries featuring a healthy mix of imported and all-time Filipino favorites. 

The stores will also have appliances, furniture, home/kitchen ware, and a Watsons pharmacy, plus bills payment counters.

Despite increasing competition from other grocery chains such as Puregold Price Club Incorporated of Lucio Co, and Robinsons Retail Holdings Incorporated of the Gokongweis, SM group remains the biggest supermarket chain in the country.

In 2013, SM Investments has entered into a joint venture with the Waltermart group through its subsidiaries SM Retail Incorporated and SM Prime Holdings Incorporated.

As of end-June 2015, SM Investments had a total of 289 retail stores: 51 THE SM STORES; 41 SM Supermarkets; 43 SM Hypermarkets; 127 Savemore stores; and 27 WalterMart stores.

Also for the same period, Alfamart, the group’s small retail format, has also increased its number of stores to 50. – Rappler.com