Kalistani Major History

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ODEN-K Mart to Expand
New addition will more than double the storage capacity of international drug mall
Port Davon, Grand Duchy of Ananto
October 18, 5550


Two employees fill small orders for tourists at ODEN-K's Mart in Port Davon

The famous ODEN-K Mart is about to get a major expansion to facilitate more capacity and sales, said ODEN Director Melanie Walt in Port Davon yesterday. The ₭15.6 million expansion will increase the size of the current facility from 215,000 square feet to more than 450,000 square feet, making it the largest warehouse in all of Kalistan. "We are taking over a significant portion of the older port facilities and renovating them so that the Mart is capable not only of holding a far greater capacity," said Walt, "but also servicing larger transport vehicles to provide international customers with easier access to larger shipments."

Part of the expansion also includes a new dock earmarked specially for small and medium freighters. "We aim to provide container service to up to four small freighters, or two medium freighters at a time," said Walt. "This should speed the loading of larger orders and make things far more convenient for our customers." The expansion of the facility is already underway, and should be completed by next October.

The expansion should provide faster turn around for ODEN products. "Currently, we have had to bottleneck growth because we lack the facilities to store the tons of materials that ODEN K produces and distributes," said Walt. "But we do get customers who come to Kalistan to buy products wholesale, and this also then puts pressure on our inventory. We have a storage warehouse of about 350,000 square feet in Eshar as well, that serves as a storage facility for Mainland products, but it obviously takes a while to bring stuff up from the mainland to fill our larger orders, so having much of that onsite here in Kaliburg will definitely speed things along and allow us to increase and control our inventory a lot more efficiently."

The Mart primarily serves international customers who purchase drugs in Kalistan to service their own domestic demands. "Kalistani product is kept on the Mainland, which fills our dispensaries on a constant basis, but the Mart here is the place where international exporters go to get the things their own countries need and desire." Walt says that international customers buy as many pharmaceuticals in Kalistan as they buy recreational drugs. "We are one of the world's top exporters of therapeutic medicine," said Walt. "We have the knowledge, we have the desire, and we have the infrastructure to supply the world."

As a result, Walt said, many of the customers the Mart gets are also drug tourists who come from countries that either do not or cannot supply the drugs to their own citizens. "Most of the time, it is far cheaper to fly to Kalistan to buy an ODEN product, that you know will be precisely what you need, at almost no out of pocket cost to you, than it will be to stay in your country and purchase less than reliable pharmaceuticals that are packaged abroad. We have such high standards and our pharmaceutical industry makes it a point to keep up on the latest publications in medical research to follow the drugs that are beign designed abroad, so we can make them here and provide them cheaper and easier to access for anyone."

But the largest sales at the International Mart come from individuals and companies who import recreational ODEN drugs into their countries to supply domestic demand. "Most of these people who are here are acting in direct contravention of their own nation's laws," said Walt. "We take no interest in what other nations say is legal or not. We know it is legal to buy the drugs here in Kalistan. Our law is the only law that we pay any attention to." When asked if ODEN supports the black market in illicit drugs, Walt said "We don't support the black market. We don't fund or aid the black market. Everything we sell here is legal, taxed and highly regulated. But what people do with it after it leaves Kalistan, or any other ODEN nation, is up to them. They take risks if they are violating their nation's laws. We have no interest whatsoever, and we ensure that they know that everything they do with those drugs, except sell them in Kalistan, is perfectly legal in Kalistan. Outside of our jurisdiction, it is none of our business. And if people don't want drug entrepreneurs bringing ODEN products into their countries, the best way to avoid that is to join ODEN, because we are, by our charter, forbidden to sell drugs to private or corporate entities from other ODEN countries, because of non-compete clauses. We can only buy directly from their ODEN branches."

The new ODEN-K Mart will also employ another 600 employees, most of whom will work as graders, packagers and pullers in the back of the warehouse. "The ODEN Mart is a 24 hour a day, 7 day a week affair. We never close, so we will need to more or less double our workforce when the expansion is done, so that we can more efficiently sell our product to our customers." ODEN is also in talks with Kalistan's various growers syndicates to begin ramping up production in preparation for the expansion. "We are also encouraging the Government to participate in the formation of distillers' syndicates, because Kalistani Rum is growing in popularity internationally, and organizing sugar growers and rum distillers will help guarantee high quality product to meet demand going forward."