Listed retailer Metro Retail Stores Group, based in Cebu, has launched an expansion program aimed at taking its network in The Philippines to 100 stores within five years.

Nearly three years after supertyphoon Yolanda devastated the coastal community in the Leyte region, the biggest retailer in the Visayas plans to open a store in Tacloban City.

Metro representatives met with Mayor Alfred Romualdez last month to tell him of the company’s decision to invest in Tacloban, reports the Cebu Daily News.

Metro plans a two-storey building for a 2ha. property in Real Street, owned by a church. The Metro Gaisano in Tacloban will create job opportunities and also help the city government in terms of taxes. Construction is scheduled to start next month, with the store expected to open within a year.

Metro, the country’s fourth-largest retailer, earlier said it planned to open 50 to 70 new stores in the next five years. Most of these would be in the Visayas.

There are two other Gaisano-owned shopping malls in Tacloban — the Gaisano Capital and Gaisano Central.

The retail arm of Vicsal Development, Metro debuted on The Philippines stock market in November.