Sia ventures into ‘merrymart’ grocery business

After building a fortune out of food retailing and property development, Edgar Sia II has debuted into the grocery business under the “Merrymart” brand, aiming to roll out 1,200 stores with P120 billion in system-wide sales by 2030.

The first Merrymart grocery was inaugurated on April 29 at the ground floor of DoubleDragon Plaza in DD Meridian Park Bay Area with a footprint of 1,900 square meters.

This brand-new grocery business—which is independent from publicly listed property development firm DoubleDragon Properties Corp.—draws valuable insights from the legacy businesses of the first two generations of Sia’s paternal family in their hometown in Capiz.

“I practically grew up in a grocery retail environment. It was like our living room when I was growing up,” Sia, MerryMart Grocery Centers Inc. chair, said in a text message.

On his own, Sia is no stranger to retailing, as he founded the Mang Inasal chicken barbeque chain in Iloilo in 2003 which was sold in 2010 to fast-food giant Jollibee Foods Corp.

The latter’s founder, Tony Tancaktiong, in turn became Sia’s partner in DoubleDragon Properties.

Merrymart—set up as a subsidiary of Sia’s holding firm Injap Investments Inc.—aims to cover all the grocery retail categories, betting on the Philippines’ resilient consumer space.

This is entering a space currently dominated by big players such as SM, Puregold and Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc.

“This is going back to our basics. My grandfather started his grocery store in the 1950s in our hometown. My parents as well opened their own grocery business way back in 1989 and have been operating successfully for 30 years and counting. This background gives our family extensive experience in the retail business,” Sia said in a statement during the opening.