- Thread starter Abuela
- Start date
Jumbo building at POP roundabout
Supermercado Jose Luis can still thrive if he uses a keen business sense. Jumbo and La Sirena tend to be overpriced. Even if he lowers certain prices by only a few pesos, people will take notice, and continue shopping there. Jumbo and La Sirena have extraordinary overheads to maintain.
Jumbo posted video on Facebook.
[video]https://www.facebook.com/JumboRD/videos/10156601686319008/[/video]
[video]https://www.facebook.com/JumboRD/videos/10156601686319008/[/video]
La Sirena is a supermarket where gringos go to shop, and feel like they were back home in a Shoprite. . Jose Luis is where local Dominicans go , where they pay 79 cents for a pound of rabo, while the shoppers at La Sirena pay 149 pesos. Jose Luis survives because it is locals who count, not a few guys from Lilburn or Banff.
i suspect Jumbo will be the same..
Good point Gorgon. The big chain supermarkets survive in Santo Domingo and Santiago from purchases from Dominicans, but in Puerta Plata there are not as many wealthy Dominicans. So the market for people shopping at the large supermarkets is much thinner/smaller. I don't think the price difference is that much for most items, but when I was in Jumbo in Santo Domingo I did notice the higher prices for some items. Jumbo also has sales every week and many of the sale items seem to be of low quality.
There was some talk of a possible Wendy's fast food restaurant opening there. Did a Wendy's in fact open there or is it planned?
i could not check the place out to see what was there, because the crowd was so thick. when i managed to make my way in, i say these stacks of plastic chairs far taller than a basketball player. several of them. i thought they were for people to take from , if they wanted to but a chair. wrong!! they were the stacks that people were buying. they were going for 190 pesos, so Dominicans were buying 40 and 50, to go and resell.
La Sirena and Jumbo are by no means targetted at the wealthy. Jumbo is actually below La Sirena. The only national chain that targets thr wealthy and upper middle class is Supermercado Nacional and Súper Bravo, though the second one vary their offerings depending where the store is located. There are other supermarkets, but they are very limited in their number of stores, often comprising a single store; and are not nationally present.
I haven't been to La Sirena PP in quite a while, but the times I have been there the clientele looked like everywhere else (though La Sirena does change their offerings depending where the store is located). At any given time only a handful of people that look like gringos (some could be Dominicans, never know) are seen shopping, the bulk of the people are nothing more than Dominicans.
I haven't been to La Sirena PP in quite a while, but the times I have been there the clientele looked like everywhere else (though La Sirena does change their offerings depending where the store is located). At any given time only a handful of people that look like gringos (some could be Dominicans, never know) are seen shopping, the bulk of the people are nothing more than Dominicans.
La Sirena also changes their prices depending on where the store is located. I bought yuca flour at La Sirena in San Cristobal for 99 pesos, and the following week we were in Santo Domingo and the same bag was 149 pesos.
I was at Jumbo yesterday, didn't go for that particularly but I saw it opened and popped in, very busy, mad house getting in and out and the parking arrangement was totally wrong - although I think they eventually sort it out.
Didn't buy anything because you had to be pregnant to be able to pay quickly (as it was announced on load speakers repeatedly), otherwise a very long queue.... !
Their normal prices looked higher than other places but you have to buy their special offers or have Jumbo loyalty card of some sort to benefit, they have more stuff/variety than Sirena, it's bigger, but for me just one price comparison was enough, Large Presidente 109p, in Sirena it is 99p, enough said...
Didn't buy anything because you had to be pregnant to be able to pay quickly (as it was announced on load speakers repeatedly), otherwise a very long queue.... !
Their normal prices looked higher than other places but you have to buy their special offers or have Jumbo loyalty card of some sort to benefit, they have more stuff/variety than Sirena, it's bigger, but for me just one price comparison was enough, Large Presidente 109p, in Sirena it is 99p, enough said...
Jumbo will succeed in Puerto Plata. They spend much time analyzing statistics before they open up a location, and it was due to demand. Even if the immediate surrounding area (walking distance) is not it's targeted demographic, it will benefit the region as a whole. As an example, use La Sirena in Bani. Many residents, with means, of the southwest travel the 1-2 hour trip to shop there weekly, or biweekly.
and it will never take away the common man clientele from Jose Luis. i just got back from there, and the prices are steep. if they are like this the day after the grand opening, then they should be interesting in a month or so.
The traffic is going to be a problem depending on the number of cars. Right now the first entrance (farther from the roundabout) is not completely open so that may be part of the problem. To leave, you have to take the ramp shown in this photo and enter the roundabout by crossing all the lanes of traffic or go toward Playa Dorada and turn around if you want to go back into Puerto Plata. I'm not sure, but there may be another exit further along, but I couldn't see it. When the first entrance is finished, it might be a little better...also when it's not so "new" and popular. I wasn't impressed but I can see the advantages. I still like the Jose Luis near Scotiabank best. It's smaller, more geared to food shopping and the bag boys are much more friendly and helpful. I need help unloading my cart onto the conveyor and they are glad to do it. La Sirena doesn't have helpers any more most of the time and Jumbo was too big and impersonal. The costs for my monthly staples (toilet tissue, paper towels, cleaners, detergent, dog food, coffee, etc) was about the same.... I had to try it! Waited till Friday