The Villar group’s All Home—pitched as a one-stop-shop for homebuilders and designers—has opened a new store at Vista Mall, Antipolo, marking the 13th store under this fast-growing retailing chain.
This is in line with businessman Manuel Villar’s plan to build a total of 20 stores, which is expected to be achieved by the middle of next year. By that time, the group will have a combined 220,000 square meters in retail space.
“I’m not getting any younger. I want to expand my retail business,” said Villar, who had spent 21 years in politics.
A former Senate President and House Speaker, he retired from politics after losing the presidential race to President Aquino in 2010. He has since focused on growing various businesses.
Once the All Home chain hits 25 to 50 stores, he said that would be the time to bring the company to public hands.
The newest All Home store has 10,500 square meters of selling space. It is the anchor tenant of affiliate Vista Mall Antipolo, which is right in front of affiliate developer Crown Asia’s residential project Mille Luce.
“What Shoemart (The SM Store) is to SM, All Home is to Vista Mall,” Villar said.
While there are other shopping malls in the city of Antipolo, Villar said this was the only one in this area that focuses on home improvement—which he noted was a very good business
Apart from serving the city of Antipolo, the new store seeks to cater to neighboring towns such as Cainta, Angono, Taytay and Tanay.
All Home was created to “make work more convenient and less time consuming for contractors, architects and interior designers.”
The one-stop-shop concept also takes homeowners into consideration, by offering a collection of furniture and appliances to accommodate any space and budget.
The store also features set-ups of mock house and condo units, showcasing various themes for living rooms, bedrooms and kitchens.
Villar hatched the All Home business five years ago but started the expansion program only in the last three years. Looking back, he said he should have gone into this business much earlier.
The group typically spends around P150 million to P200 million to open each new All Home store with an average footprint of 10,000 to 11,000 square meters.