Food Lover’s Market, renowned for its fresh and diverse offerings, has opened a new store at Castle Gate Lifestyle in Waterkloof Ridge.
Food enthusiasts gathered for the grand opening, enjoying live music and snapping up exclusive voucher deals, and voucher specials, making it a celebration of good taste and great deals.
This world-class store serves the surrounding communities of Waterkloof, Constantia Park, Waterkloof Glen, Moreleta Park, Elardus Park, and Erasmusrand.
In an interview with Tshwane Bulletin LIVE, Human Resources Terri Coppin Harris and Michael Coppin Co-founder of Food Lover’s Market, they expressed their delight at the turnout for the grand opening. Terri Coppin Harris noted that the energy from the customers positively impacted the store employees, making it a perfect day.
“I am so happy. When you look into the store, you see the colleagues working with such great energy. I encourage people to come in and visit; it’s an experience unlike anything else here.”
“With the ethos “Best store in the community,” the Food Lover’s Market store aims to create a store like no other in South Africa by having the best customer experience and the best products for the people of Waterkloof Ridge”
Terri Coppin-Harris revealed that opening the store in Castle Gate was the right decision, expressing her pleasure that the vision he had a few years ago has now become a reality.
“With the expansion of Castle Gate Lifestyle, Coppin explained the strategic reasoning behind the store’s location”
Michael Coppin said “It all began around three years ago when this mall opened. It quickly became busy, and we believed the catchment area was sufficient, especially since there were no closer stores; our nearest one was in Menlyn, about 7 to 8 kilometers away.
“We made plans to open a shop here and sealed the deal three years ago. This store is the outcome of three years of hard work,”
“We expect the new store will attract more people seeking top-notch customer service and products,” Michael Coppin added. “It’s now one of the largest stores in Castle Gate.”
The store manager is Chantelle Hutchinson, an experienced retailer who has worked for the Food Lover’s Market group for 24 years.
Hutchinson previously managed the teams at Food Lover’s Market Cradelstone and New Market. She has 160 passionate team members to support her, 22 of whom are part of the gourmet Butchery section.
During orientation, all Food Lover’s Market team members completed Food Safety training, as well as the Food Lover’s Market Values and Customer Xperience workshop. The team undertakes customer service training programmes to prioritise living the Food Lover’s Market values, the importance of customer service, and understanding all the product lines.
While 52 team members are existing colleagues, the rest have all been recruited from the surrounding areas. “With a new store comes a new team, and we love adding more smiling faces to the Food Lover’s Market family and getting to know one another.
We are passionate about delivering an exceptional shopping experience and look forward to welcoming shoppers to our new store,” says Hutchinson.
Travis Coppin, CEO of Food Lover’s Market Retail, says, “We’re passionate about offering our shoppers an incredible shopping experience while striving to become the best destination store in the community.
“As a family, we are so proud to open this store, and I am confident that it will create an experience like no other, turning our customers into Food Lover’s fans.”
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