Metro Cash and Carry to open 50 stores by 2020

As a part of its expansion strategy, Germany’s Metro Cash and Carry plans to open 50 wholesale stores in India by 2020. The company recently opened its 18th store in India and fourth in Bangalore. The new store replaces the earlier occupied by French retailer Carrefour that exited the country last year. Metro had acquired three Carrefour stores. The other two—in Delhi and Meerut will be opened shortly.

The company plans to add 32 stores over the next four years. The company has shortlisted 43 cities having a million plus population to launch its stores. Despite making an entry into the wholesale retail market before others, Metro was not able to grow compared to rivals Walmart and home-grown Reliance Retail in terms of store count. While Reliance Retail has 43 stores, Walmart operates 20 wholesale stores and has announced aggressive expansion plans. Metro, still the largest wholesaler by revenue, has 16 outlets but it plans to increase the count to 50 by 2020.

Metro will continue to press ahead with its international expansion: alongside Russia, China and Turkey, India will count among its key growth countries in future. The footprint of the wholesale business Metro Cash & Carry is set to expand considerably in India.