Posted on August 26, 2014 09:28:00 PM
[ BusinessWorld Online ]
JAPAN’s FamilyMart on ×Tuesday said it
will start issuing convenience store franchises by the close of 2014, with a
target of 90 to 100 stores at year’s end.
The company said in a statement that
its store count was 31 at the end of 2013, and that franchising will enable it
to “hasten its store rollout” and also provide business opportunities for
entrepreneurs.
The convenience store chain operates
here under SIAL CVS Retailers, Inc. -- a joint venture with Ayala Land, Inc.
and specialty retailer SSI Group, Inc.
“We will provide all-out support to ensure
that their business is properly run. We want them to succeed because their
success is ours as well,” Anton Huang, president of Philippine FamilyMart CVS,
Inc. and SSI Group, was quoted in the statement as saying.
He said the details of the franchise agreement
are still being worked out.
Mr. Huang also noted that SSI’s “long
experience in building brands” in the country was “critical” for the FamilyMart
brand to gain a “distinct position” in the market, as well as immediate
consumer acceptance.
“From a virtually unknown brand,
FamilyMart has now become a recognizable brand that has ushered in a new
convenience store lifestyle,” he said.
FamilyMart is reportedly the world’s
second largest convenience store chain with more than 22,000 branches worldwide,
including those in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, China, Indonesia,
Vietnam, and the United States.
SSI, on the other hand, handles 103
international brands in 655 stores. -- Daphne J. Magturo
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