Watsons Personal Care Stores Philippines, Inc. (Watsons Philippines) is planning to open around 30 more stores this year, with plans to add as much as another 90 in 2025, pushing the number of its local branches to over 1,100 stores as it establishes and strengthens their presence in key cities nationwide.
During a press conference on Monday, Watsons Philippines senior assistant vice president for marketing communications, public relations and sustainability Sharon Decapia shared this plan during their announcement that they have reached 8,000 stores worldwide, with the milestone branch being in the country.
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“And these are not concentrated in Metro Manila. We are in key cities nationwide, Visayas, Mindanao, North Luzon, South Luzon, Central Luzon,” Decapia said.
“That’s how we plan to really make health, wellness and beauty products more accessible to the Filipino consumer,” she added.
Further, Decapia added that around 80 to 90 more stores will also be opened in 2025.
The Watsons Philippines executive said they have three flagship stores in the country — one in SM North EDSA, another in SM Megamall, and the newest and the 8,000th store in the SM Mall of Asia.
The new flagship store has a floor area of 900 square meters and has a premium skin care section.
Decapia also said that they have been seeing strong growth in the Philippines in terms of revenues, describing it in limited terms as growing in the double-digits.
Additionally, Watsons Philippines Customer Director Jared De Guzman said that they are also seeing growth in their Watsons Club members noting that they currently have at least 8 million.
“So, it’s a sizeable amount of members. And our core purpose, really, for members is beyond the points,” he said, adding that members are also given other benefits such as access to conventions, expos, and concerts.
De Guzman said they will also grow their number of employees in the Philippines with the opening of new stores, noting that one store will generate 8 to 10 new jobs.
To date, Watsons Philippines has around 10,000 employees in the country, which include pharmacists, assistant pharmacists, store managers, and store supervisors, among others.
Watsons started in the Philippines back in 2002 through a partnership between the A.S. Watson Group and the Sy-led SM Prime Holdings, Inc.