Jennai | Multinational Mania
ggamgus: I'm glad you liked my... slums.
Forthwall: Yep, that was the idea!
LoonyMan: Thanks Seth! I enjoyed making Tamer.
Ace of the Thirteen: Thanks, I do tend to use more plazas in these urban environments than I do in my rural communities.
SC4LOver: Thanks - it was a bit of a mix-and-match update. I'm not experienced at all with urban slum work so it was a bit of a trial.
Hazani Pratama: Thank you, loyal commenter!
Jesus: God wasn't either, so he decided to use less of them in the future.
Hellken: Thank you, that's very kind of you to say.
TayMay27: Yes, I'm looking forward to reaching triple digits! It'll be a momentous occasion.
westy177: Hope they weren't too nice! I'm glad you liked them though.
Huston: That wasn't part of the plan! Haha, thanks!
Welcome to Cattala, and today we're doing a special update which was actually the brainchild of a random comment about Cattala's shops by a commenter in the forum section. See, you guys really do influence what I do.
Welcome back to Rene, in Jennai. This neglected wasteland has benefited of late from upgrades in its railway services - although it isn't connected to the Jennai Metro, it now has more regular InterCity rail services, along the Southport branch line. This has fuelled some new development in the area.
Rene's role as a transport intersection mean it has attracted commercial interest too. One of Cattala's largest supermarket stores, Tesco Rene, can be found in the borough. Tesco once dominated the Cattalian urban market, after it was granted a trading licence in the 1990s to operate in the three metropolitan areas of Celeste, Jennai and Calora. However, it has seen its market share slide sharply after a series of ethical scandals and price disputes with local suppliers.
In efforts to shore up its business in Cattala, against rising local competition, they began building new homes and businesses on adjacent land to their stores, claiming to provide low cost housing for Jennai's poorest. This backfired when it emerged that Tesco's was making tidy profits off every sale.
Local rivals, such as Cooperativa, have taken over the market from Tesco. Multinational rivals such as Carrefour and Auchan have made efforts to muscle in on Tesco's downwards spiral, but failed to gain licenses after public campaigns to stop the multinationals forcing out local suppliers and shops became mainstream. This small convenience store in Rene is an example of their efforts; it is a joint venture between Carrefour and Cattalian chain Rammoza. These ventures are highly restricted and limited only to Jennai and Calora.
The general public have been suspicious of supermarkets since the Tesco scandal began in 2004. Efforts by regional governments to loosen the laws have been met with fierce opposition, even in cities. Rene is an example used by the anti-supermarket campaigners. Since the Tesco opened, six local shops have closed and fifteen other stores have seen profits fall by at least 33%.
The last of our series of my most favourite updates is Elloria, in northern Jennai. This was one of my first opportunities to explore the woodland of rural Amosseri/Monte Calida/Jennai's borderlands, and also where I experimented with truly rural, undeveloped territory. I really like the result of this update and hope you did too. So, all ten pre-100 images are now done. That means one thing only - the next update, is the big one.
I hope you all enjoyed that insight into the reasoning behind the lack of supermarket chains in Cattala. As you've seen in past updates, there's a lot of local shops and Cooperativa alone has around 400 partner shops throughout the country. Tesco's now has just six stores in Cattala, down from a peak of 32, after losing its trading licenses in Amosseri, Lessito, Roumeli and Monte Calida. Monte Calida and Lessito provincial governments were scathing of Tesco after it attempted to create 50 local shops across the provinces, and were the first to revoke its licenses in 2003 after public protests in major towns and cities throughout the country.
Apologies about the lack of updates through January - my exams really did take priority and drained me of time. Unfortunately updates will continue to be in short supply probably for a while now - but I do have a very exciting plan in prospect for after we pass 100. See you then!
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