Local retailing giant Puregold Price Club Inc. is expanding aggressively in Mindanao and other regions outside greater Metro Manila.
This move was not just prompted by growing demand, improving purchasing power, and increasing sophistication of consumers in the provinces, but also by the improved peace and order situation in these areas.
According to Puregold VP for operations Antonio E. delos Santos, there is a move to focus on Mindanao as the company’s footprint in the island remained marginal, having only eight branches, as against the 249 stores in Luzon.
In Visayas, Puregold’s presence is likewise limited to only nine branches.
“Last year, we opened two branches in Mindanao. For the past two to three years, we’ve managed to open only two yearly. But we want to open more. What we’re looking at is not the number of stores but the areas—which we think are ripe to have a Puregold store. We’re just looking for the right location,” delos Santos said.
“We look at the demographics. We look at the economic footprint of the area and how the shopper behaves, then we tailor fit our strategies towards that,” he added.
Delos Santos also acknowledged that the improving peace and order situation under the Duterte administration had helped boost the confidence of the company, noting that in Mindanao, he does not feel “threatened.”
“When we opened our branch in Davao, we had a courtesy call with the former Mayor now President Duterte and he was very supportive,” delos Santos said.
Puregold president Vincent Co, meanwhile, declined to cite specific numbers as to how many stores Puregold will open in Mindanao, but said the group planned to have a “significant presence.”
For now, Co said the company would continue its programmed expansion plan of putting up 25 stores yearly over the next five years as Puregold sees no slowdown in consumer spending, given the steady growth of the local economy.
The country, he added, continues to have a consumption-driven economy.
So far, there are 266 Puregold stores across the country. The company has yet to put up around 15 more stores to hit the expansion target of 25 branches yearly.
Meanwhile, delos Santos said they still expect sales to grow by 11 to 12 percent this year to about P90 billion.
“We’ve been growing double digit since 2010. We’re on track to hit (P90 billion) because in the first half, we’ve already hit 45 percent of the target, which is aligned to the movement of trade because the last six months are usually stronger because of the Christmas season,” he added.