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Lukewarm response to CWE's 24-hour sales venture

by Ravi Ladduwahetty

Despite the decision of the Cooperative Wholesale Establishment (CWE) to open 132 out of its 157 shops islandwide on a round-the-clock basis from January 3 in a bid to reap the true fruits of liberalisation, the response has not been very effective yet.

There are only a few people after 9 pm, the Daily News witnessed in a market survey.

The new venture, aimed at consumer convenience, has also run into its own share of the problems with employees being inconvenienced to the hilt. Employees who are made to operate on a shift basis, are saddled with domestic problems such as taking their offspring to schools and their shares of domestic chores.

There are the operational bugbears as well. With a limited number of employees, women are requested to do the night shift as well. The three shifts are from 8 am to 4 pm, 4 pm to midnight and midnight to 8 am. Those who commence the 4 pm shift and end at midnight, are reluctantly compelled to carry on with the second shift until 8 am which exempts them from working the next day.

The CWE's Fort Branch is well patronised up to around 9 pm as this is not a residential area. The fastest moving item is arrack after 8 pm while the other items go equally well. Like the other branches, it is well patronised and operates on a three shift basis. The products are cheaper than the private sector supermarkets. Security considerations make customers shun the venue after 10 pm.

The Rajagiriya outlet was empty as expected at around 2 am and employees were kicking heir heels and reading newspapers as they had no other amusement at that time of the day!!

CWE's Deputy General Manager (Marketing) Upali Cooray told the Daily News yesterday that all CWE shops in key cities such as Colombo Kandy, Galle, Ratnapura, Kurunegala, Matara, Ratnapura, Ambalangoda and even distant Kataragama are open round the clock and the response has been positive considering the meagre publicity that the venture has received.

All branches in Colombo such as Kollupitiya, Bambalapitiya, Rajagiriya and Battaramulla are also open. Business is bound to improve when the people get to know this, he said.

The customer response has been good and the people who arrive at these hours are from a different segment of the market. There are around 60-70 people who arrive at these shops around 11 pm and also around 4.30 am, he said.

Asked about the possibility of increased sales, he said that the figures were being monitored and it was too premature to comment.

The CWE is adopting a shift system to meet the increased demand. Security has been monitored and the Police has been alerted. Stocks have been insured to ensure that there are no losses, he explained.

Asked about the adequacy of stocks to met the rising demand, he said there were buffer stocks to meet any pattern of consumption. There was a shortage of potatoes, chillies and onions in early December but now there are adequate stocks, he assured.

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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