And I finally visited the famous and the biggest Retail Outlet opened in Lahore, Makro Cash 'n' Carry and thought of sharing the experience with the rest of you here.

Let's start with a little background of Makro.
Makro Cash 'n' Carry is a subsidiary of a Dutch company SHV and has its operating outlets in Asia and South America. In Europe, from where Makro started, the company outlets are owned and operated by METRO Cash 'n' Carry, a German company.
Makro entered the Pakistani market in 2005 and opened its first outlet in Karachi in 2006, and second in Lahore in 2007.

OK, now back to my visit.
So it goes that my Parents (especially mom) was very keen on going to Makro since she had heard a lot about it from her friends and the worse is that one of our family friend's son took her mom to visit the outlet (damn). So now my mother did not want to be left behind and my father also joined the boat and we all three headed for the adventure on this last sunny Sunday (phew, it was hot).
Thank God, it was sunday, otherwise passing through the whole of Lahore (we live in cantt) to the other end of the town (Minar-e-Pakistan) would have easily taken an hour. We managed to get there within 25 odd minutes.
The space that they have got there is massive (thankGod some good space is left for parking as well). Its all single story and the shopping area is atleast 30 times of Alfatah (Lahore) or Agha's (Karachi), can't recall a reference point for Islamabad :(

Display Management
Anyways, the space was huge, but the display was ..... pathetic. Nothing compared to Agha's or Alfatah. There were piles of stocks put away like a fish market. There was no proper tagging of where to find what. One can not find his way to anything but meat, fruits and vegetables, as the smell guides you there.

Meat Section
The fish and chicken displayed openly on piles of ice (take a look at the pictures) and what was worse, customers had to put the chicken in the stacked shopping bags themselves with their own hands (plastic bags, that have recently been banned in Karachi - Finally No More Plastic Bags). My God it looked terrible.
The fish however was good and cheap. But there was a long queue of customers at the chopping counter, so dad had to retreat.

Fruits and Vegetables
Fruits and vegetable corner was fine, the only thing that you have to keep in mind is that you have to get it tagged for weight and price right in that section.
As for ourselves, we did not know that and missed the counter (which is not at a very conspicuous place), completed our shopping and found out only when we reached the checkout counter. So I had to go all the way back to the vegei area to get the things weighed and priced, and mind you its the other corner of the shopping area (30 times bigger than Alfatah in Lahore and Aghs's in Karachi :( )

Prices
The prices of most of the the items were definitely cheap, but one item which I incidently found and could compare not to be cheap was WD-40 spray (cleanser), which you can find in the market for Rs.150-155 and it was available at Makro for Rs.156 (so not everything is really cheap).
The prices of general food items and crockery, cutlery etc. was cheaper than the market.

Fresh Bakery
The fresh bakery concept was really good and was releasing good aroma as well. Mom also bought a couple of things from there, including my favourite "Cake Rusk" (i'm lovin' it!). They had already wrapped packs of them for take away and looked really fresh and golden. It was only when we reached back home that mom opened the pack to find out that only the top ones were golden and all the rest under the top layer were burnt (very bad quality - bluff I would say). So be careful the next time you are there.

Conclusion
- Plus

1. Its a big shopping centre (ome stop shop) with all things from electronics to grocery to meat. - a plus
2. It has huge parking space for customer convenience - a plus
3. It is fully air-conditioned - a plus
4. Prices are cheaper than the market - a plus

- Minus

1. It is far far far away from the centre of the city - a minus
2. Display is pathetic, you have to really search for what you are looking for - a minus
3. Prices are cheap, but is feasible only if you buy for 3 months atleast - a minus
4. The area is in the heart of old city and is a nightmare for drivers, the traffic is a mess - a tripple minus
5. Its sort of a self service - a minus for retail concept, especially when you have to weigh the fruit yourself and pick the chicken from its legs (yuck) - a definite minus

So more minuses in the end, making it a NO for retail shoppers, but still if you want to have a go for the sake of experience, every experience is a learning one. Go for it!