Discount retailer branches out to Arbil

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

Local discount retailer Kaliteli İndirim Marketleri (KİM) is planning to open two stores in northern Iraq, the semi-autonomous Kurdish region, in its first investment abroad, according to a top executive.

“We have met all the necessary official requirements and inked deals in January. We will inaugurate two supermarkets in Arbil in May,” said Hamit Akçay, general manager of KİM, adding that another supermarket will be opened in Iraq this year.

The discount retailer plans to open stores in other Iraqi cities including Suleymaniyah, Basra, Mosul and Baghdad, according to Akçay. In the long term 10 stores will be opened per year in Turkey’s southern neighbor and the turnover target for 2012 in Iraq is $25 million, he said.

“The first of the stores will be inside a shopping center called Royal Mall, located on one of the most busy avenues. We will open a 2,500 square meter of a supermarket in the shopping center. Our second store will be across Arbil Fortress, which is the historical centre of the city.”