The Plaza Milanés y Ayllón Shopping Centre begins operations.

Executives of the CIMEX branch in the province of Matanzas took advantage of Mother’s Day to start up the Plaza Milanés y Ayllón, located in the historic centre of Cuba’s Athens.

Although for some the advance was a response to the anxiety of those who waited in a line of several days, it is certain that the start-up was inserted in the Yumurina proposals for the second Sunday of May.

The official inauguration will be soon, noted Zulema Moreno Ruíz, general manager of CIMEX. «This is just a period to test all the systems and adjust the details, so there are things that we have been correcting and others that we are giving the final touch,» she said.

Mileidys Leonard, sales representative of the Plaza Milanés y Ayllón, assessed the start-up of the unit as positive, an assessment consistent with the criteria of the customers consulted, although she admitted that the days are still to come to evaluate the performance of the new shop.

Leonard mentioned as an outstanding element the youth of the staff, 80 percent of the total workforce. The young staff, trained in courses given by CIMEX itself and trained in its establishments before starting in this centre, which has become the largest and most diverse in terms of offerings in the province.

She agreed on the challenge of making the friendly and professional treatment of workers sustainable. Therefore, she said, we will put into practice the constant dialogue with all staff to make a difference in customer service.

For the time being, the purpose is backed up by the existence of an information bureau with its corresponding public relations team ready to satisfy customers’ concerns.

She said that the shop operates on a regulated basis for various products, with the clear purpose of enabling many more people to benefit from the goods and food.

While arranging some blankets in the home supplies department, Roxana Ramos expressed her joy at having been accepted to be a shop assistant in a beautiful place like this, which will look better depending on how it is managed by management and employees.

Karla Bermudez, CIMEX commercial specialist for the Gastronomy activity in the province, detailed the option of sales in national currency by magnetic cards in the cafeteria, a small place dedicated to the sale of coffee – there were 15 types at the time of Radio 26’s visit -, ice cream, sandwiches and toast.

The menu will move depending on the availability of raw materials, Bermúdez said, referring to the option, aimed at those who come to the establishment to shop and wish to sample their preparations.

On its two floors, the unit has departments of food, household appliances, hygiene and grooming, perfumery, clothing and footwear, among others.

Before opening its doors on 11 May, Plaza Milanés y Ayllón had already felt the pressure of more than a few people crowded in the doorways or near neighbouring institutions, some of them cultural, a situation that should be kept under control so as not to cause physical damage to the Palacio de Junco or the Sauto Theatre.

For this giant of the retail trade in Matanzas, open to the public at a time when the shops have been quite out of stock, it only remains to ask that it be sustained over time with offers, and that quality and friendly treatment are not a matter of one day and that it establishes itself as its star product.

Photos: From the author and from CIMEX Facebook.

Written by Eva Luna Acosta Armiñán.