It was hard to wake up at 11 am. I‘ve hardly had any sleep, but as always curiosity was over powering and I succumbed without much resistance. I think I am not a perfect agency person, coz I could only get an extra half of hour from Gihan, the Deputy General Manager of DPJ Holdings, the owners of Go-Getter convenience store.
I started noticing Go-Getter in mid 2007 when I saw a few more outlets opened up in suburb areas. This was an interesting swerve in the retailing business, as the early signs of neighbor hood mini marts were not spreading as fast as expected. “Samantha Stores” (near kushmi foods on Dutugemunu St) was one of the few who converted to this concept in early 2000’s. (2002) However the investment was taking a long time to realize and the owner was not too pleased with the returns. His wide smile was soon disappearing and a sense of desperation was clearly evident as he was hiding behind unfamiliar shelves. Unfortunately super markets grew at the cost of these mini marts as they were unable to differentiate their business from rapidly expanding super markets. Although these “Mudalalies” (Shop Owners) were excellent “social connectors” they could not stop residents in the neighborhood from driving down to the closest Cargills or Keells Super. The fate was the same everywhere these Mini Marts operated including in areas like Ja-ela and Wattala.
So when I spotted the ever expanding Go-Getter network I thought it could reveal some interesting facts. The call to Gihan was a result of this curiosity.
My personal experiences with Go-Getter have not been very encouraging. Few months ago in Borella, a friend of mine had been asked to leave the bottle behind when the cashier did not have change. Two weeks before on a weekday afternoon around 2 pm when I stopped near the Nawala outlet, the door was locked although the sign board still said it’s open. But still Go-Getter was definitely doing something right, as I always saw people walking in ‘n’ out of it. So I took down the numbers on the poster that hung on the glass not to make a complaint rather to find out more about this interesting expansion. Mr. Gihan Samarawickrama, Deputy General Manager of DPJ Holdings group was very responsive when I called and was willing to meet me. I was on my way hopefully I will find out more about why a software application solutions company that focuses on automation diversified in to this challenging retailing business.
I started noticing Go-Getter in mid 2007 when I saw a few more outlets opened up in suburb areas. This was an interesting swerve in the retailing business, as the early signs of neighbor hood mini marts were not spreading as fast as expected. “Samantha Stores” (near kushmi foods on Dutugemunu St) was one of the few who converted to this concept in early 2000’s. (2002) However the investment was taking a long time to realize and the owner was not too pleased with the returns. His wide smile was soon disappearing and a sense of desperation was clearly evident as he was hiding behind unfamiliar shelves. Unfortunately super markets grew at the cost of these mini marts as they were unable to differentiate their business from rapidly expanding super markets. Although these “Mudalalies” (Shop Owners) were excellent “social connectors” they could not stop residents in the neighborhood from driving down to the closest Cargills or Keells Super. The fate was the same everywhere these Mini Marts operated including in areas like Ja-ela and Wattala.
So when I spotted the ever expanding Go-Getter network I thought it could reveal some interesting facts. The call to Gihan was a result of this curiosity.
My personal experiences with Go-Getter have not been very encouraging. Few months ago in Borella, a friend of mine had been asked to leave the bottle behind when the cashier did not have change. Two weeks before on a weekday afternoon around 2 pm when I stopped near the Nawala outlet, the door was locked although the sign board still said it’s open. But still Go-Getter was definitely doing something right, as I always saw people walking in ‘n’ out of it. So I took down the numbers on the poster that hung on the glass not to make a complaint rather to find out more about this interesting expansion. Mr. Gihan Samarawickrama, Deputy General Manager of DPJ Holdings group was very responsive when I called and was willing to meet me. I was on my way hopefully I will find out more about why a software application solutions company that focuses on automation diversified in to this challenging retailing business.
pictures courtesy Google Images
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