Metro Supermarket opens in Ayala Center Cebu

Metro Ayala’s temporary supermarket has its soft opening on Thursday at the Ayala Cebu Center. CDN PHOTO/JOSE SANTINO BUNACHITA

THREE months after the fire that hit the Metro Ayala department store and supermarket, the retail company has opened a temporary supermarket inside Ayala Center Cebu.

The 900-square meter area is located just across the original supermarket location at the ground floor of the mall.

Although smaller than their original space, Metro Supermarket Marketing Manager Paola Blanco told Cebu Daily News that they are happy to be able to reopen and catch up to their sales loss over the past three months.

“We are fortunate to have been given another area that we can utilize to cater to our Ayala Center Cebu customers. The original supermarket is not yet ready for us to use,” she said.

The original supermarket had an area of 4,500 square meters.

The temporary supermarket had a soft opening yesterday (Thursday). Today (Friday) is their scheduled grand opening.

Even if it is smaller, the temporary supermarket still have a lot of products on display including canned goods, fresh fruits, meats, seafood, and other grocery items.

Souvenir items and delicacies are also displayed at the closed entrance of the original area for the supermarket.

According to Blanco, the main building of Metro is still undergoing repair and reconstruction. They still don’t know yet when the area can be reopened but she said that the company’s plans to really reopen the area once it is fully restored.

Since the January fire, Metro Ayala has also established pop-up stores in various locations within the mall where they have small displays of mostly apparel and home accessories.