THE rising middle class in Cebu has prompted HMR Trading Haus to return and opened its 16th store in the country in a bigger space inside SM Hypermart in Mandaue City.
“With the ever-growing economy of Cebu as a regional hub in the Visayas, it opens up opportunities for us to extend HMR’s products and services to more areas of the Philippines,” said Sharlene Powell, HMR Philippines Inc. marketing head.
HMR used to operate in Cebu in the early 90’s but closed after four years.
“We felt that time that the business was premature for Cebu. Cebu is ready for us then, but we didn’t have the right infrastructure,” she said.
HMR Philippines Inc. has been trading in surplus goods for more than 20 years.
Widely known as “The Trading Haus”, HMR considers itself as the country’s leading retail, trader and auctioneer with 11 retail establishments and three auction centers.
It sells branded and quality household, commercial and industrial goods at affordable prices.
Among the products they sell are construction materials, home and office furniture, audio/video equipment, telecommunications equipment, medical and industrial equipment, hardware tools, toys and novelty items, mostly imported from leading retail outlets in the US, Australia and Europe.
HMR Trading Haus in Cebu is the company’s first provincial branch outside Luzon.
“A lot of our customers in Metro Manila come from the Visayas-Mindanao region and this is already a good indicator to come back and offer a bigger variety to this growing market,” said Powell, adding that their clients are mainly the AB market who are business owners and people looking for value for money.
With Christmas season approaching, the company hopes to offer best deals from their international network of retail sources.
HMR’s showroom in Cebu occupies 2,500 square meters.