Walmart India is set to open two ‘best price’ cash and carry stores in Kurnool and Tirupati by end of this year.
Company president & CEO Krish Iyer said in a statement on Sunday that Andhra Pradesh was a priority State for them. The company opened its fourth store in Visakhapatnam in October, 2018. The other three stores are located at Rajamahendravaram, Guntur and Vijayawada.
The best price stores were being opened with the objective of enabling small businesses to prosper, meet all needs of under-served small businesses such as kiranas/resellers, offices and institutions (O&I) and hotels, restaurants and caterers (HORECA) under one roof, he said.
Walmart, he said, was offering unique propositions of a wide range of quality merchandise and local assortment at ‘every day low prices’, unique shopping options, doorstep delivery and convenient payment solutions to such business members.
Mr. Iyer said “as we continue to grow our B2B business, we are happy to create thousands of local jobs for youth in the State, boost the regional SME ecosystem by developing and sourcing regional products, strengthen the agricultural supply chain by sourcing directly from farmers, serve kiranas and contribute to the economy at large.”
Andhra Pradesh was an important sourcing destination for Walmart as the company sourced a variety of fruits and vegetables directly from farmers, agriculture commodity products from local suppliers and food and non-food items for several private brands.
He said beyond business, Walmart Foundation had given grants to NGO partners, International Development Enterprises-India (IDEI), ICRISAT and TANAGER to increase sustainable market access for smallholder farmers by building the capacity of farmer producer organisations (FPOs) to scale and sustain and thereby increase rural income. The three projects cover over 35,000 farmers, 25% of whom were women farmers, he added.
