Medel's Mega Mart
History:
Medel's Mega Mart is an Imperial registered company that operates a chain of large discount stores across Reavers' Deep and Daibei sectors. The company was founded in 815 by Shamus Medel. The company operates its stores in most class A, B and C starports in Imperial space as well quite a few class A starports in non-Imperial space where the population of the world is over 100 million.
In the early years Medel rented floor space close to Travellers Aid Society hostels and would sell anything he thought they would buy. Over the last 150 years the company has undertaken to grow their market share, purchasing warehouses and buildings at starports for their existing stores as well as potential new sites. The company is expecting to mark the celebrations of its 300th year of operation with the opening of its 300th warehouse store at the starport on Caithness (Reavers' Deep 1217).
Company Structure:
Medel's Mega Marts operating structure is centred around the warehouse stores. Where possible store stocks are purchased from the local world but the company will also import higher technology goods where there proves to be a market for them. On worlds where there are few local manufacturers the company leases bulk carriers to ship the goods into their stores.
Larger population worlds with multiple starports will often have multiple Mega Marts which will all be run from a central office. Otherwise lone stores will report to the largest store office in a subsector. These subsector offices will report to the company president who operates out of the largest store in the chain.
Depending on market forces the main office location will vary from year to year. In this manner the president of the company always operates from the largest, most profitable store in the chain. This has added extra incentives to store managers as substantial benefits and bonuses are to be gain from having the headquarters operated from their store.
Company Culture:
The stores in each system are encouraged to run as independently as possible from the subsector and company headquarters. The stores will sell most things that turn a profit, with the key being bulk purchases and huge volumes of sales. Each subsector office is tasked with sourcing and purchasing goods for the stores in its area. The cheaper the subsector office acquires these goods for, the more profit each store makes. This results in a higher percentage the store pays to the subsector office, but with a sliding scale to encourage the stores to push for larger margins.
Employees can rise to any position within the company, given the right skills and sufficient drive. In the early years the company had a policy of selling anything to make a profit however over the last fifty years this policy has changed to only sell products that are of good quality. Below is the Medel's Mega Mart company logo.
Corporate Affairs/criticisms:
Employment with Medel's Mega Mart is usually sort after on most worlds. While the wages of Medel's Mega Mart employees are average compared to similar corporations, employment usually includes company housing and health benefits. Criticisms are usually levelled at the subsector offices due to their purchasing practices. Company purchasing officers are often described as “aggressive” at the best of times. Nevertheless the opening of Medel's Mega Mart is always sought after by starport operators.
Current Projects:
Medel's have plans to open five new stores over the next twelve months.
Stock ownership: Medel Trust Fund - 55%; Sterilite Securities - 20%; Daibei Banking Systems - 15%; Vilhelm Family - 6%; Other - 4%.