Tears and a lot of emotion. This was what marked the official opening of the new Continente store in Portimão, which took place yesterday afternoon. The doors of the hypermarket located in Cabeço do Mocho open to the public this Wednesday, the 26th, at 9:00 am.
«Today being here is a miracle, which only we can do. We did something absolutely unthinkable: we set up a unique, very special store in a short period of time», stressed Luís Moutinho, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sonae MC, responsible for the brand's new store.
Nine months after the fire that consumed the premises of the Retail Park store in Portimão, the new hypermarket today opens its doors to customers in another part of the city, ensuring the relocation of more than 150 jobs.
Therefore, the atmosphere that was experienced yesterday at the inauguration was one of great joy and emotion. In such a way that there were many employees with tears in their eyes listening to the words of Luís Moutinho and even the director of the store António Carreiro was moved.
This person in charge, referring to his team, even said: “they were heroes during these nine months. And in these last days they never denied anything, in these last days it was just joy».
Rosa Soares, who was a cashier at Continente Retail Park for six years, told the Sul Informação that, on the day of the fire, “I cried so much. It seemed like a bad thing to happen to the family. It was a part of us that burned in that fire».
After the affliction, Rosa spent a month working at the other hypermarket in the city and eight months at Guia. His colleague Aurora Vieira, who had been working at the Retail store for four years, spent the last nine months at Continente/Modelo de Silves. Both had difficulty holding back tears during the speech of the CEO of Sonae MC.
It's just that, they told the Sul Informação, felt that they were opening up “my continent”. «At the other retail store, we were already a family, we had customers who already knew us and who even went to other stores looking for us. It will be good to meet these people again,” said Aurora.
Five million investments and 150 jobs maintained
Emotion aside, the story of this new store is also made up of numbers. Luís Moutinho revealed to our newspaper that the investment reached «more than five million euros». The total sales area is 3100 square meters, with 18 boxes.
The new store also has a Cafeteria Bom Bocado, with 20 square meters and an outdoor terrace, inaugurating a "new concept" in this area.
There is also a Wells parapharmacy and stores owned by other operators, such as the Victor Picardo hairdressing chain, which will open a space there in the coming days.
Soon, the space will have a Galp fuel pump, which "opens in the next few days".
It also has a car park with capacity for 146 uncovered and 194 covered spaces, six spaces for large families, eight for the disabled and six for pregnant women.
In addition, to mark the opening of this unit, the new Continente launches a promotional campaign offering a 10% discount throughout the store for three days, from 26 to 28 June. And there are many other card discounts available.
Roundabout will be built on the road
Luís Moutinho underlined that the opening of this store proves that the Sonae Group «does not give up betting on Portugal and that we continue to open stores». Just yesterday morning, a Continente/Bom Dia store was opened in Alverca, while in the late afternoon, after the ceremony in Portimão, the expansion of the brand's commercial space would be inaugurated in Lagos. "And there are more openings planned by the end of the year," he added.
The CEO of Sonae MC classified the new Continente de Portimão as «a hyper of the future, endowed with all that we have to offer».
Referring to the fact that the new store occupies the premises that were previously owned by E.Leclerc, Luís Moutinho pointed out that «this space was previously owned by another retail organization that did not continue», but «with our ideas, we will be able to do different".
And to avoid traffic problems in an increasingly congested area thanks to the concentration of large commercial spaces, Luís Moutinho revealed that «we are available to build a roundabout in front of the Continente hypermarket in the coming weeks». «It is a road with a lot of traffic, fortunately for Portimão and for us».
The construction of the roundabout is, as he later told journalists, "promised to the Chamber". "It's not essential, but we like to treat our customers well."
As for the 150 jobs created, important “for the economic and social development of Portimão, heavily penalized by unemployment and seasonal businesses”, these refer only to the maintenance “of all the previous ones”. "But if this store continues to grow, there will be room for more."
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