–with opening of new food ‘mart’

By Lisa Hamilton
MATTAI’S, the one-stop food depot is promising Guyanese a whole new shopping experience with the formal opening on Friday of its new branch, just across the way from the old shop at the corner of Water and Hope Streets.

According to Managing Director, Mr. Harry Mattai, the new store, named Mattai’s: The Food Market, has been generating quite a buzz not just here alone but all the way in the Caribbean and further afield.

“Quite a few people flew in from the Caribbean when they heard about the store, its size, what we’re doing, the quality, where we’re heading, where we’re taking the business to the next level and they’re very impressed,” an excited Mr. Mattai said yesterday.

The new facility is about 22,000 square feet in dimension, currently has around 40 employees, and boasts a training room, boardroom, and an Information Technology (IT) department.

Mattai said the facilities at reference will not only be used to build the capacity of his staff, but also be made available to train those of other local companies.

“Our mission is not only just hiring people,” he said. “We believe in a lot of training; we plan to do a lot of nice things with the company to make our staff and our people better to serve.”

He said that while Mattai’s is very supportive of local products, they’re also big on standards.

“We’re looking at standards: We’re looking at certificates, we’re looking at dates, we’re looking at quality,” Mattai said, adding:“It’s not just any and all body can come and sell to us. No! You’ve gotta be prepared; you gotta be labelled properly.”

He’d like to thank the Guyanese public for believing in Mattai’s over the years, even back when it was just a small family business run by his father in the Stabroek Market.

The Food Market, he said, is but just the beginning of the many “massive expansion plans” the company has in store for Guyana. But just what will be revealed in good time.