DURBAN - THE Makro in Springfield is set to reopen in December after the store suffered extensive damage in the July unrest and looting.
Makro hosted a media tour yesterday at its Springfield premises. Brett Cumings, in charge of regional operations at Makro, and general manager Sue-Anne Jones said they were able to maintain relationships with their commercial customers even though the store had to be closed for repairs.
They said the Springfield store would be opening on December 13.
Jones said it was important for them to maintain their relationship with their commercial customers.
“It has taken us many years to build relationships with the wholesale and commercial customers. We made alternatives for our customers to get their orders and we are proud that we were able to maintain this relationship because it’s important to us,” said Jones.
Talking about the reopening of the store she said: “The store is set to re-open its doors on Monday, December 13 after several weeks of halted operations.
“We are so excited to finally let our Springfield community know that we’re back.” She added that while the store was being rebuilt, they distributed some of their staff members to other Makro stores in Durban, which are at Cornubia and eManzimtoti, while other staff were involved in the rebuild process.
Jones said they were “blessed and glad” that no one lost their jobs during the difficult time.
“In the last four months we have been hard at work rebuilding the store while doing our best to offer support to our affected staff,” she added.
Talking about the looted solar panels, which had been an important feature in the Makro parking lot, Jones said that they would be reinstalled in January.
She said the store also had a more innovative design that would enhance shoppers’ experience.
“The upgraded and innovative design has customer-focused hubs, digitally-enhanced express checkout tills and an Earth-friendly store architecture to reduce Makro’s carbon footprint,” she said.
THE MERCURY