Posted on 08:31 PM, February 21, 2010 [ BusinessWorld Online ]
DAVAO CITY -- The Robinsons Retail Group will invest P800 million in businesses it will put up within the 10-hectare mixed-use Abreeza project, a joint venture of Ayala Land, Inc. and the Anflo Management and Investment Corp., the holding company of the family of businessman Antonio O. Floirendo.
The bulk of the investment, said Jody S. Gadia, Robinsons Supermarket general manager, involves a four-storey structure with a basement. The company will pour in about P650 million to the building, which will have a 2,000-square-meter floor area. The remaining fund will be for other facilities, said Mark O. Tansiongkun, vice-president for procurement and administration of Robinsons Supermarket Corp.
Top Robinsons Retail Group executives, including Robina Gokongwei-Pe, senior vice-president, were among those who attended a briefing for locators in Abreeza last week. Maria Victoria E. Anonuevo, senior vice-president and group head of the Ayala Malls Group, said the Robinsons Retail Group is the single biggest locator in the project.
Ms. Anonuevo said 54 locators have already signed up with the project. The entry of Robinsons, she said, is an indication of the “big potentials” of Abreeza. “The takeout is really very, very overwhelming,” said Ms. Anonuevo.
The Robinsons Retail Group, aside from building a supermarket, will also open a Robinsons Department Store, Robinsons Appliances, Handyman Do-It-Best Home Center, Handyman Do-It-Center, True Value, Toys “R” Us, Topshop, Topman, Dorothy Perkins, Warehouse and Trucco.
Mr. Gadia said the company was confident its investment would attract a huge market, particularly the high-end and middle markets because it would offer a “different shopping experience.”
Asked why the company decided to invest in the Abreeza project when it already owns the one-hectare Robinsons Cybergate, which is just a kilometer away, Mr. Gadia said the company believes the Davao City market is still big and that its other store is different considering that it is a “way in, way out” store where people go just to shop.
He was also confident that the Abreeza supermarket, like that in Robinsons Cybergate, would perform better because the typical basket purchase in the city is about P520.00, higher than the average in other places of P480.00. A basket purchase refers to the average purchase of a customer in a supermarket.
In the city, based on the Robinsons Cybergate data, about 90% of those who go to the mall are customers who spend their money on goods.
For Abreeza, a significant number of mall goers will likely look for services, Mr. Gadia said. “We foresee that there will be a lot of commerce that will be generated within the project,” he added.
Robinsons’ shops will immediately open when the first two floors of the building are completed in the summer of next year, said Ms. Anonuevo, adding that the second phase, the third floor, will be opened by the end of next year. -- Carmelito Q. Francisco
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