[SIZE=5]Goodbye, Cherry Foodarama[/SIZE] THE landmark Cherry Foodarama on Shaw Boulevard is shutting down next year on its 60th anniversary.
The one-hectare property that the pioneer supermarket stands on has been acquired by rapidly expanding Puregold retail chain of Lucio Co, who reportedly plans to
transform the supermarket into another S & R membership club to serve the well-heeled residents of neighboring Wack-Wack and San Juan.
The market chatter is that Co acquired the property for P500 million, a figure that
Puregold president Leonardo Dayao would neither confirm nor deny.
If the figure is correct, the price then translates to about P50,000 a square meter, inclusive of the building.
Puregold itself already has a branch, actually the very first branch, along Shaw nearer the Edsa Crossing.
From the Shaw branch in 1998, the Puregold empire has grown to 70 stores and nearly 18,000 employees by focusing on the the so-called C market. It inaugurated its 70th branch only last June 12 in Canlubang, Laguna.
As to Cherry Foodarama, it is not clear whether the owners, the Ong family, intend to relocate the Shaw branch or if they plan to permanently shutter it. Cherry still has two other branches, in Quezon City’s Congressional Avenue and in Antipolo’s Marcos Highway.