GABC to open 150 more stores in ’19

The homegrown fashion retailer behind popular brands such as Penshoppe and Oxygen is spending some P2 billion this year to put up more stores and a warehouse to support its online sales.

Golden ABC Inc. (GABC) targets to open 150 more stores this year, as its brands contend with foreign retailers Uniqlo and H&M that made competition both “exciting and challenging,” a top official said.

On top of Penshoppe, its flagship brand, GABC has five other fashion brands: Oxygen, Forme, Memo, Regatta, and Tyler. As of last year, it had over a thousand stores in the country and some overseas.
Bernie Liu, company chair and CEO, said they were currently building a fulfillment center in Metro Manila, which would be used to serve their online customers. The center, he said, would be finished next year.

He said the company saw its sales grow by over 20 percent last year. The same growth is expected this year.
“Business has been good. We opened a hundred more stores last year, as we ended the year before with 900 stores,” he said.
Putting up 150 stores, he said, cost the company “easily a billion pesos.” These will add about 25,000 square meters of retail space by year-end.

The fulfillment center costs about the same, he said. Construction is ongoing as the company’s online sales currently account for 3 to 4 percent of total sales, with Liu expecting this to grow to 10 percent in two to three years.

This comes as the face of the retail fashion market is changing, with more foreign brands coming in and more consumers are turning to buying their clothes online.

When asked to comment on the entry of foreign brands in the local retail scene, Liu said, “I will not lie to you. [They] are very strong and they are good at what they do. But we believe we can be as good as them.”

“I can’t [speak] for all local retailers, whether they are growing. I believe some are not flourishing as much. Some are suffering, but some are also doing well,” he added.