Sofia's hypermarket landscape has been enriched by a new member - Ramstore Bulgaria.

The Turkish company Migros Turk T.A.S. has invested 33 million leva into building the hypermarket from the Ramstore chain of stores. It was officially opened last Friday.

Ramstore Bulgaria A.D. is a Bulgarian joint-stock company and a subsidiary of Turkey's largest retailer Migros Turk T.A.S, which in turn is part of the Koc Group, the largest Turkish conglomerate. So far this has been the largest single Turkish investment in Bulgaria.

"We have been doing marketing research since 1999," said Bulent Yildirim, Ramstore Bulgaria executive director. "We have been impressed by developing countries. We believe in Bulgaria because it has a really good future. You have done a lot for your country. There have been big changes for the past two years. We noticed that in 1999 and decided to start the project."

Ramstore Bulgaria was built on an area of 15,000 square metres in Sofia's Zapaden Park district, at the intersection of Alexander Stamboliiski Blvd. and Vardar Blvd. It offers a variety of 25,000 items ranging from bakeries to meat products, from textile to office supplies, from household appliances to cosmetics. Apart from the hypermarket, the new building hosts a branch of Turkish Demir Bank and a fast food restaurant.

"We came to the country in August 1999, established a company and purchased a space," said Yildirim. "It only took 10 months to build up the hypermarket. We are a fast moving company."

For the first three working days of the hypermarket, some 28,000 people have visited it. "We expected that there would be a big desire for an out store," Yildirim said. "But we are very impressed with the success of our Ramstore club card, with which clients get a lot of privileges, promotions, price advantages and discounts at the cashier. We have more than 20,000 club members."

The store's executive director explained that they would offer a continuous advantage program for club members. "For the short term we have this, but after longer we are going to offer some more alternatives in a medium-sized programme. We will provide Ramstore club members with the feeling that being a member of the club is a privilege in our store."

In terms of product, 95 per cent of the goods sold at the store are from local suppliers, 80-85 per cent of which are Bulgarian produced. The rest are Turkish and other international brands.

"We have the most extraordinary baked goods which are made here especially for our clients," said Yildirim.

He stressed that the company is always ready for competition because competition brings good service to the client. "Metro are a gross market, they are all seller but they have changed their concept. Billa is the other big competitor. It would be boring without competition. When there is competition you feel obliged to offer something new to the market."

The executive director said one way they do this is by paying special attention to prices and trying to keep their margins low.

"We appreciate the full customer satisfaction. That's our first motto," said Yildirim. "We are very critical about the services in all senses - prices, quality, quantity and services."

The store has created 300 new jobs and is constantly training new staff. Instruction is offered by specialists in different areas, such as public relations, customer relations, eye communications and time management. "All cashiers are smiling," Yildirim said, with a smile. "We have trained them for a long time just to keep smiling. We invest a lot in manpower."

The company plans to open other stores in other parts of Sofia. Their intention is to form a triangle of stores. One of the new ventures will most probably be in the Mladost district. Ramstore also plans to enter the market in other cities of Bulgaria such as Plovdiv, Varna and Bourgas.

"I think Bulgaria is a progressive, dynamic country," said Yildirim. "Lots of European companies, and our companies in particular, are interested in the Bulgarian market. We are running after the opportunities to invest more here."