T

rans Retail, part of business tycoon Chairul Tanjung'€™s CT Corp business group, plans to open 10 more Transmart Carrefour outlets in the country'€™s major cities this year as part of the company'€™s program to gain a stronger foothold in the retail business.

Transmart Carrefour corporate communications general manager Satria Hamid said that since the start of this year, Trans Retail had launched three outlets in Balikpapan, Palembang and Jakarta, and in the next nine months it planned to open seven outlets in major cities, such as Manado and Surabaya.

'€œWith the launching of the three new outlets, we already have a total of 91 outlets across the country,'€ Satria said on Friday, adding that the new outlets used a new retail concept combining hypermarkets, entertainment, food and fashion in one area.

He said 12 of the existing outlets, including one in Cempaka Putih, Jakarta, used the same concept, while the remaining outlets were in the process of transforming.

With regard to facilities for minors, Satria said play areas for children, called Kid City or Mini Trans Studio, were already available in four Transmart Carrefour outlets in three major cities, namely Jakarta, Tangerang and Balikpapan.

The retailer expects some three more Mini Trans Studios to be made available in the next new outlets.

Transmart Carrefour employs around 24,000 workers at its 91 outlets; half of them permanent staff and the other half on non-permanent contracts.

'€œWe hope to hire up to 10,000 new employees this year,'€ Satria said at a media gathering, in which the retailer shared its activities in the first quarter of 2016.

The latest events held in new Transmart Carrefour outlets were a family shopping race and a coloring contest to introduce the new outlets and the products sold there, Transmart Carrefour activation and customer engagement manager Lina Parlina Purba said, adding that the events were conducted three times a month.

A fashion show, meanwhile, was carried out at the Cempaka Putih outlet. '€œThat is because that outlet is the pilot project for our new concept'€, Lina explained.

The first outlet of the Transmart Carrefour brand was established in Tangerang city in June 2015.

In November 2012, the business empire of Chairul Tanjung expanded its reach by acquiring full ownership of the local unit of Carrefour in a US$750 million transaction, just two and a half years after the company had purchased a 40 percent stake in the Indonesian unit of the French-based retailer in April 2010.

That transaction made Carrefour Indonesia a fully-owned Indonesian enterprise.

Meanwhile, CT Corp consists of three sub-holding companies: Mega Corp, Trans Corp and CT Global Resources, which cover a wide spectrum of industries, namely financial services, media, retail, lifestyle, entertainment and natural resources. (vny)