The new supermarket Apolónia de Lagoa, the third store of this Algarve company in the region, opens tomorrow, Thursday, at 8:00 am. The news was given by Paulo Apolónia, administrator of the company, at the door of the new unit which, he guarantees, “will be the best store in the entire Iberian Peninsula”.
In total, the investment in this new store, located outside Lagoa to Praia de Carvoeiro, reaches 9 million euros, already creating 140 jobs. However, as revealed by Paulo Apolónia to Sul Informação, «140 are the people who are hired at the moment, but we plan to reach 150 by the summer».
These are important jobs in the Algarve and in the municipality, which even represent more than is normal in a supermarket of this size. This, explains the businessman, has to do with the philosophy of Apolónia supermarkets, which «have very high levels of quality, which requires many people to work at the same time. A supermarket of this size usually doesn't have that many people, but we have to, to guarantee the quality of our service».
The company, created in 1983 by Paulo's parents, Avelino and Célia Apolónia, currently has two other stores – the initial one, in Almancil, and the other in Galé (in Albufeira).
The third unit is the one that opens tomorrow in Lagoa. And why was this zone chosen? «It is an area with very large potential in terms of the product we offer, it has some seasonality, but at the same time it has many residents, particularly foreigners», explained Paulo Apolónia.
«We think that this is an area with a lot of potential for growth, because what we offer, in terms of product and service, doesn't exist here. We will be differentiators here, as we already are in Almancil and Galé», he added.
Paulo Apolónia: «We think it is an area with a lot of potential for growth, because there is not here what we offer, in terms of product and service»
At the Lagoa store, in addition to the «variety of products that does not exist on any other surface, as well as services, such as freshly made sushi, delicatessen and own take-away», Apolónia will open its first parapharmacy store, as well as a separate stationery, also operated by the company.
Also for the first time, the Apolónia Supermarket will have, in addition to its own shop, café, parapharmacy and stationery operated by its brand, commercial spaces to be rented. In essence, it is intended that they be «operators who have the same philosophy as us, who bring added value to the type of services we offer our customers, such as laundry».
However, because the priority was to open the store, these commercial spaces were still “on hold”.
As for the service, Paulo Apolónia said that «we are constantly looking for new products, constantly satisfying the requests and needs that our customers express to us, and this store will be no different».
«Each store has a different personality, has products that are perhaps different from the others, because that is what customers are looking for, but this one, in Lagoa, will always be a store within the Apollonian spirit, which is customer satisfaction and product variety».
The plans of the company Apolónia Supermercados do not stop there: there is already land acquired for the fourth store, to open in Lagos, probably «in the summer of 2017», since the project is still in its infancy.
«We also have the project to move to the Lisbon area, to Cascais, and to relocate the Almancil store, but there the project is bigger, involves a shopping center», said the entrepreneur.
For now, at the Apolónia de Lagoa Supermarket, everyone is working at full speed to finish all the details, inside and out, so that tomorrow, at 8:00 am, the doors will open for the first customers.
The desire to open is such that there won't even be an official opening, at least for now. «The work is late, summer has already started in the Algarve, so we leave the opening for later, with a party, when things are already in full swing».
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