URUGUAY. Travel retailer Neutral has opened an expanded downtown store at the Uruguayan border city of Rivera, serving traffic into the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande Do Sul.
The store has been expanded from 650sq m to 1,800sq m, and has more than trebled sales in the first few days since opening on Friday 12 September.
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Neutral CEO Enrique Urioste explained: “Rivera is the most important city in terms of retail on the Uruguay-Brazil border, and is the place where Neutral had the worst stores.”
A further development will boost Neutral’s business at the location in mid-2015, when the retailer opens a 4,000sq m store at the new Melancia Mall.
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In the first phase the mall will house two duty free stores (from Neutral and La Riviera) as well as duty paid stores, cinemas, a casino, a food court, Restaurants, a supermarket and a bus terminal serving domestic and international routes.
In the second phase other amenities will be added, including a five-star hotel adding more quality beds to the city and encouraging longer shopping periods.
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“This is the first big mall to open not only on the border, but also to the south of Porto Alegre [Brazilian state capital of Rio Grande Do Sul],” said Urioste.
Urioste reported that Neutral is in the process of finalising the layout of its store at the Melancia Mall.
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