Another new supermarket in Cyprus...?

I do like having local shops within easy walking distance. The fruitaria and Achna Discount are excellent and convenient; I tend to walk to one or the other at least three times each week, around 7am before it's too hot to do anything. 

But inevitably with such small shops, the stock is somewhat limited. 

When we first moved here, I would also pop into a smallish supermarket which was even closer about once a week. Then at the end of 2007 this was replaced by Orphanides Express. Never a fan of Orphanides supermarkets, I nonetheless took advantage of this for items I could not find at the other local shops. This meant that we only had to drive to the main Metro supermarket about once a month. 

Then at the end of 2012, Orphanides Express closed down.  The chain was bankrupt, and although it did open again briefly, it was only for a week or so as stock was sold. Since then the building has been empty, and we've found ourselves having to drive to Metro more often. 

So I was quite pleased to see, on Tuesday, a new sign on the board outside the building: 

I had not heard of Micro Stores, but made a note of the website and the wording. It sounds like a good name for a small supermarket; the white wording (according to Google Translate) means:  comfortable, convenient, and everything....'.  The large word in yellow simply means 'cheaper'.  

Even better.

The Micro Stores website simply has a holding page at present, announcing that their shops will soon be open in five locations. No hint of a date, but that's probably wise. 

This morning I spotted a truck with the same logo, unloading things into the shop.  And a few cars in the car park: 

It looks encouraging.

Having said that, the economy is so bad, with recession predicted for many years that I don't hold out a whole lot of help. Many new shops and chains have started with enthusiasm, to meet a perceived need... only to close for lack of funds or customers within a few years. This location is a good one, and I'll certainly take a look when it opens. But more and more people are driving to the bigger supermarkets and I don't know how much hope there is for this kind of shop which is too large to be a friendly, family-run place, but too small to have the wide range of stock we see in, for instance, Metro and Carrefour. 

However, I look forward to seeing what happens in the next few weeks.

Update: A few days later the supermarket was open.  Long hours advertised, including Wednesdays afternoons and even Sundays.  Convenient, certainly. Comfortable - as much as any supermarket ever is. But unfortunately, on the few items I checked, not cheaper than Achna Discount. So other than for emergencies, I doubt if I will be going there much.