Metro arrives in Japan - is to set-up a joint venture with Marubeni, the Japanese trading house - Brief Article

Eurofood, April 26, 2001

Metro, Germany's largest retailer, is to set-up a joint venture with Marubeni, the Japanese trading house, to open a superstore in Tokyo as part of its efforts to expand into the cash-and-carry business throughout Asia.

The venture, in which the German group will hold an 80% stake, will open its first outlet in the Japanese capital next year, to be followed by three more stores in 2003. Food and drink sales are part of the company's retailing operations.

Each store will have an average selling space of 5 000 square metres, much smaller than Metro's European outlets, which are typically 10 000 to 15 000[m.sup.2].

STORES WILL TARGET LOCAL PRODUCERS

Metro and Marubeni said that the stores would acquire goods directly from local producers and manufacturers, with the Japanese company in charge of the supply chain.

Metro already has nine stores in western China, and is planning further outlets in Vietnam and India. It has 272 of its 353 stores outside Germany, and operates in 22 European countries, as well as Morocco.