Villar group retail arm sets expansion strategy

Property tycoon Manuel Villar Jr. is ramping up his retail footprint via All Day Supermarket, revealing plans to open as many as five stores this year, and doubling that figure to 10 stores in 2017.

All Day Supermarket saw its third and largest outlet open Thursday in Vista Mall Sta. Rosa in Laguna.

Villar, better known as the founder of Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc. and a former senator, said the group had experienced early success in the supermarket business.

“I think the middle-class is growing. Everyone is leveling up,” he told reporters at the sidelines of the opening of All Day Supermarket Sta. Rosa branch.

All Day Supermarket is competing in an increasingly crowded space, dominated by the Sy family’s SM Retail group and Lucio Co.’s Puregold Price Club Inc.

Villar said the budding chain was seeking to lure shoppers with “better” designed stores, guaranteed fresh products, an organic all-natural section and a “paluto” section, where customers can have food items cooked and prepared for them while they shop.

The Sta. Rosa branch was the group’s largest, with a floor area of 4,500 square meters, Villar said. Its two other locations are in Starmall Edsa-Shaw and Vista Mall Taguig.

Villar said new supermarket locations this year would be in Bataan and Daanghari. These would widen the footprint to about 20,000 sqm by the end of 2016. He said the company was planning to open four to five more All Day Supermarket stores in 2017.

He declined to give specifics on an initial public offering, but noted that the retail group could be ready for public listing in about two years. That would depend on the scale of the business, he said.

“All of our supermarkets are successful. The response from consumers is very good. They have an upscale look but the prices are low so they cater to the masses,” Villar said.

All Day also has a quick-fix section, which serves as a hardware shopping and repair service area. This removes the need for customers to jump from grocery to hardware store, the company said.