Cost-effective: At Farid’s supermarket, it gets cheaper by the dozen

Owner announces money-back guarantee if you find something cheaper elsewhere.

KARACHI:

If you find a can of soda that is cheaper than the one at Farid’s, its owner will pay you for it.

This unique money-back guarantee is one way the owner of the city’s latest supermarket boasts of giving the best prices. “We offer the cheapest prices but not at the cost of quality,” claimed the owner and managing director, Farid Virani. The store, which promises to offer ‘everything under one roof’, held its official launch on Tuesday.

Model Mirza Bilal dressed up as a cigar owner at the cigar section at Farid’s. PHOTO: ATHAR/ EXPRESS

Virani was quick to explain his ‘money-back guarantee’. “If a customer buys a certain product at Farid’s and find the same product for cheaper at another supermarket, then we will pay them back for it,” he said, adding that the official announcement of this policy is still in the pipeline.



“The policy would be formulated with the proper mechanism quite soon,” CEO Adnan Hamid told The Express Tribune. Their marketing director, Ammara, pointed out that a bottle of Coca Cola at Farid’s is cheaper than any other supermarket. “These are our marketing wonders,” she grinned.

The CEO went on to talk about their target market. The superstore is not only targeting a niche market, he said, adding that Farid’s caters to the needs of people belonging to the middle-class. The idea of an ‘economical brand’ is the supermarket’s strategy to gather a loyal clientele. “From an unbranded dinner set for Rs7,000 to a Versace dinner set worth Rs250,000, we have it all!”  Hamid exclaimed.

Why did they choose Ocean Mall in Clifton if they were targeting a larger market? Hamid felt Clifton was the “centre of the city”.

The grand launch

The team had worked hard for the official launch on Tuesday as a large number of prominent personalities and celebrities turned up to show their support - from designer Amna Aqeel to Sindh Assembly speaker Agha Siraj Durrani. The red carpet was hosted by VJ Anoushey Ashraf, who found it hard to stop talking about the exclusive discounts being offered that night. Actors Humayun Saeed, Adnan Siddiqui and Sarwat Gillani also made an appearance.



The Sindh Assembly speaker showed up due to his 40-year-old friendship with Farid, but he insisted the store was a great venture. “You can get everything here,” he said. “The atmosphere is so much better given that the supermarket is clutter-free.” Durrani’s favourite section was the one with camping gear. He explained he had not been hunting since a long time.

For event organiser Aneesa, the best part was the fact that she did not have to get in long queues.

“The drive-through facility is the most useful part about the place,” she said. It appeared that actor Ayesha Omar came only for her groceries. As she hurriedly paced one aisle after another, she said: “This is the place for organic foods.”

Everything under one roof

The lower floor of the supermarket has all the food items and groceries - from fruits and vegetables to organic food and a live deli. The upper floor has camping and golf gear, lingerie, luggage, toys from T-planet, home décor products, etc.

To catch a break on your shopping trip to Farid’s, you can head to the cigar section, which offers an extensive range of cigars and cigarettes. Even when you step out of the store, there are small shacks offering home-cooked Burmese food and a hygienically prepared sugarcane juice for Rs100 only.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 12^th, 2013.