West Couple Opens Supermarket Up North

Ba couple Ravinesh Prasad and Shireen Lata have opened a new supermarket in Labasa on Friday.

They have been living on Vanua Levu for the past two years.

Three days away from one Fiji’s celebrated religious holidays, the couple opened their Real Save Su­permarket at Paras Point, which is about 10 minutes drive from Labasa Town.

The couple had been in the retail industry for more than 20 years.

They each have sufficient and reputable experience in account­ing and in finance.

Mr Prasad was the regional northern manager for Vinod Pa­tel, and head of finance at Vuo Su­permarket.

Ms Lata was a former supermar­ket manager.

“There is a lot of development in the North, and we thought why not invest?” Mr Prasad said.

“Hard work and the bond I have with my family allowed us to open our first supermarket.”

He said the supermarket has created employment for four indi­viduals.

“It is about giving back to the community,” he said.

Ms Lata, who co-manages the su­permarket, is adamant about the new venture.

“We haven’t really invested in things like this. I believe our hard work, the support from home, es­pecially our family back in Ba paved the way for us.”

“My husband is hard working and very supportive in co-manag­ing this supermarket.

“Behind the success of a man, is a strong family, wife, children, and all that,” she said.

“And for us, this is timely, given that Diwali is next week. We did not want to open before Diwali because we wanted to provide an opportune venue for an afford­able supermarket for Diwali shop­ping.”

They are looking to opening more businesses in Labasa.

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