Mother's Marketplace
 You're Home Here | |
| State-owned enterprise | |
| Industry | Grocer |
| Predecessor | Jade Harbors Fish Market (ແກ້ວຢົກ ທ່າເຮືອປາຕະຫຼາດ) |
| Founded | 1995 |
| Founder | Lanikai Siharath |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Malaio Pulau Keramat Ochran Tsurushima, Iotopha, Jhengtsang |
| Products | Bakery, dairy, deli, grocery, meat, produce, seafood, snacks, liquor |
| Owner | Keon Phothisarath |
| Parent | Wattana-Gubara Food and Beverage |
Mother's Marketplace (Birha:ຕະຫຼາດແມ່ຂອງ) is an Malaio supermarket chain operated by Wattana-Gubara Food and Beverage, headquartered in Pulau Keramat. The chain has over 800 locations(as of 2014) primarily in Pulau Keramat, with other stores across Malaio and Ochran. The chain specializes in providing Malaio foods, and serves as the largest Malaio grocery mart in the world.
The logo, You're Home Here,(Birha:ທ່ານຢູ່ເຮືອນ) derives from a common Birha phrase meant to welcome people as guests and to ensure hospitality during their stay. It was selected and announced in 2000, as a celebration of the 5-year anniversary of the chain's opening.
History
Jade Harbors Fish Market
The original Jade Harbors Fish Market (Birha:ແກ້ວຢົກ ທ່າເຮືອປາຕະຫຼາດ) was founded in 1897 by Lanikai Siharath, who had purchased a warehouse at the Akajara harbor in order to facilitate a central location for the sale of fresh fish and raw catches from the various fishing boats that worked there, and received funding by the Akajara Emas to better organize the harbor district. While the original intent was only to provide a singular location for which fishermen would be able to distribute their goods, Siharath had noticed that various peddlers had begun to bring other goods to the location, including fresh vegetables and fruits, due to the heavy traffic present. She then invested a full year into restructuring the warehouse, and eventually reopened it as a fully fledged grocer, having contacted local agricultural and fishing companies and organizing with them in order to stock and expand the reach of the warehouse.
By 1900, the Jade Harbors Fish Market had expanded to include locations all across the islands of The Solustheris, working with shipping companies and innumerable providers from local agricultural and fishing industries to purchase warehouses in harbor districts, and convert them into grocery markets. The Chair of Economic Affairs of the Solustheris at the time, Pualani Thammasith, entered talks with Lanikai Siharath in 1902, in order to evaluate and establish some level of restriction to the standards of providers, as to ensure that all goods were received in sustainable fashions. While this initially meant that goods were more expensive, the company received funds by the central government in order to maintain fair prices without lowering wages or pay to providers, with modifications made to tax law for fishing licenses and sellers permits to provide some alleviation to this cost.
By the time the Dewan Emas Agreement had been written and officiated in 1953, the Jade Harbors Fish Market company had purchased and renovated warehouses all over The Solustheris with over 50 locations, and began to focus on expansion into the other island nations of the confederacy. With certification and passage by the Dewan Emas, being one of the first companies to seek licensing and permissions through the newly formed government, the Fish Market expanded across the entirety of the archipelago, yet was limited to serving coastal cities, due to an insistence in retaining the capacity to work with close access to harbors.
In 1977, the Jade Harbors Fish Market applied to membership into the Vespanian Exchange Institute, and was received with little hesitation, albeit some concerns existed to the ability of the brand to remain with it's efforts of sustainability with how it was expanded. According to the 1982 Pertumbuhan Analysis, the company was suggested to begin approaching fish farms and aquaponics agricultural industries in order to retain sustainable levels of product supply for various goods, most notably those who had begun to show signs of decline in native habitats because of over-fishing. In response, the Jade Harbors Fish Market decreased the variety and range of goods available at each location to sources that could be certifiably sustainable in number, yet this did seem to signal an end to any expansion for the brand.
Wattana-Gubara Purchase
On September 18th of 1994, the entirety of Jade Harbors Fish Market was purchased and certified as being a company under Wattana-Gubara Food and Beverage, who had purchased the rights to the company after holding talks with both representatives of the Dewan Emas, and the VEx over the transfer of ownership and intentions held to the company as a whole. For three months, every location had been closed for renovations, with the company hosting and funding regular farmers markets outside of the locations in order to prevent a loss of revenue from suppliers during the time.
By January 10th of 1995, the company had revealed the re-branding efforts from Jade Harbors Fish Market into Mother's Marketplace, announcing plans on focusing to sustainable and fresh produce as similar to the predecessor, but also moving inland and away from the limited location norms of harbor-side warehouse renovation. By embracing and supporting the usage of the aquaponics and fishery industries, the parent company planned on having locations throughout Pulau Keramat, and expansion into the rest of Malaio.
In 2000, the company publicly announced a new logo, "You're Home Here," in celebration of the 5 year anniversary of the newly refurbished grocery chain. As analyzed by the VEx, the efforts made to find suppliers through aquaponics and various hatcheries had allowed for the brand to expand it's products without compromising sustainability as anticipated, and made it easier for locations to emerge in areas with less readily accessible goods.
As of 2010, the company has made public their interests in expanding locations to Ochran and Scipia, and have sent in certification with the VEx for future investment in such expansions.
Customer Base
Because Mother's Marketplace serves a predominantly Malaio consumer base, with special emphasis of Birhan products and agricultural norms, Birha serves as the lingua franca of the supermarket and its adjacent businesses. In-store PA announcements announcing specials are multi-lingual and often spoken in Raji, Mataram, and various other languages common to Southern Ochran and Mainland Malaio.
General Locations
Store Layout and Offerings
In design, many of the older and traditional locations are still based out of warehouses, with various open-air stalls and clustered products rather than aisles being commonplace. Seafood and fresh marine products are often kept alive in tanks throughout these stores, with employees on standby to assist customers when needed. Most plant goods are kept uncut, with employees available at counters in order to prepare and clean vegetables if need be.
Most Mother's Marketplace locations have a full-service take out deli serving a combination of Birha, Raji, and Matara fare. In addition, newer stores often have bakeries serving baked goods and Malaio pastries, a majority of which are baked and prepared in store. Locations without delicatessens and/or bakeries are often simply barebone markets, but as being an anchor for shopping centers, usually have other Wattan-Gubara Food and Beverage companies in close proximity, such as Cafe Surakarta or Hummibliss.
The chain runs major advertising campaigns, including print-in adds in Malaio Newspapers, and radio adds on various stations within the region.