Andrew Cohen, the CEO: «This award makes us especially proud as customers are at the heart of all we do at Courts Mammouth»

10 janvier 2025 05:11

And the winner is… Courts Mammouth! The no 1 retailer of furniture, consumer electrical appliances, IT products, and mobile phones in Mauritius has won the «Best Elite Business Award» at the People’s Choice Awards 4th Edition. The award ceremony, held on the 17th of October, has consecrated winners in several categories, the top one being the «Best Elite Business Award». The People’s Choice Awards (Mauritius), an initiative of Members Business Network (Mauritius), was established with the vision to boost business confidence on the island following COVID-19.

What are your feelings after winning the «Best Elite Business Award» at the People’s Choice Awards? What does this award mean for Courts Mammouth?

It is a huge honour, we are blessed with an amazing team with a family atmosphere and we can be especially proud that the award was voted for by the general public of Mauritius and Rodrigues. This award makes us especially proud, as customers are at the heart of all we do at Courts Mammouth, and all of the team feels honoured to have received recognition in this way from our customers in all Mauritius. It is also a recognition of our hard work winning the «Best Elite Business Award» at the People's Choice Awards, organised by the Mauritius Business Network, and an honour with the main speaker at the event being His Excellency the President Roopun GCSK.

Why has Courts Mammouth been chosen, in your opinion, as «Best Elite Business Award»?

At the core, all revolves around our Mauritian customers and managing this business one customer at a time, with a goal of building a long-term, ideally life-long relationship with them and their families. At the core, we will not change, albeit we are always looking for ways to improve to new heights and to accelerate growth further. Also, as a Mauritian company, to do our part for the community to help people in need, for which we invest quite a lot of time and resources.

What has been the evolution of Courts Mammouth since its opening in Mauritius?

At Courts Mammouth nearly 40 years ago, we made furniture and electricals affordable to many people for the first time and made a special place in the hearts of Mauritians –and we are proud of that. Nevertheless, we have not stood still and, over the last five years, the company has grown nearly 3x and we have innovated lots recently, with many new services for customers, with Monde de la Maison, the largest store in the Indian ocean with amazing entertainment, including a snow village with real snow, our one hour mobile phone repairs, a lovely cafe with a view of the Moka mountains and much more.

You have been the CEO of the company since 2020. How have you contributed in making Courts Mammouth move forward?

We already had a very strong team that I inherited from David Isaacs, my predecessor. So really, I did not need to make any big changes in this area. The focus has been around modernising the retail experience and upgrading many of the stores, a lot of training, a new retail POS system, which means customers can buy much faster, and also investing in local furniture and sofa production, which allows us to bring down the costs and improve quality for customers

Courts Mammouth has played an important role in the lives of Mauritians/Rodriguans, and vice versa. What can you say about this company-clients relationship built throughout the years?

We are all a part of the same community and two sides of the same coin.

What role has played Courts Mammouth in the economic growth of the island?

Over the last five years, as well as growing nearly 3x, we have increased the number of Mauritians employed from 580 to over 1,400 families that earn salaries directly from Courts Mammouth. Further, for the furniture we sell, our strategy has always been to «Make in Moris» where possible and I believe we have a greater percentage of locally made products than all large competitors, over 70%. Also, the quality levels we are now achieving is better than from China and we are currently growing our exports to the Southern African region already to over 400 stores in Africa, which will increasingly have a major benefit to the export sector and to the country.

How do you see Courts Mammouth in the future? In the days, months and years to come?

We are planning to accelerate our growth in the coming years, while also improving to new heights the in-store, delivery and service experience. Also, to be leading even more charitable initiatives.

One last word for your clients, partners and all those who have contributed to the success of Courts Mammouth until now?

Thank you on behalf of all the amazing Courts Mammouth team to all the people of Mauritius and Rodrigues who voted for us. Our customers are at the heart of all we do at Courts Mammouth and all of the team feels honoured to have received recognition in this way from the general public. And finally, congratulations to all the Courts Mammouth team!