Two Filipino retail firms set local, overseas expansions

MANILA, Philippines - Two Filipino retail companies are expanding their businesses by opening more stores in the country and overseas this year.

Suyen Corp. which has roughly 1,100 stores across all its brands now is planning to open a total of 100 new stores here and abroad this year.

“For sure, it’s...100 (new stores) before the end of the year,” Suyen general manager Jude Ong told reporters in a chance interview, adding that the expansion covers all the company’s brands.

Suyen carries 17 local brands which includes Bench, Human and Kashieca, as well as 32 foreign franchise brands such as American Eagle Outfitters, Cotton On, and The Face Shop, among others.

Ong said the firm currently has close to 1,000 stores for all its brands in the local market.

New stores are likewise scheduled to open this year as the company intends to have 20 to 30 new stores in China to add to 50 existing outlets there, while three to four new stores will start operations in the Middle East on top of the firm’s 18 outlets in the region.

Apart from China and the Middle East, Suyen also has Bench and Bench Body stores in the United States.

Ong said the firm intends to expand its presence overseas not just by opening new stores but also by entering new markets as it is currently in talks with potential partners to bring the Bench brand in two Southeast Asian countries.

The firm expects to close the deals within the year.

“Even before, we were interested (in other Southeast Asian countries). We just couldn’t find the right partner. We’ve been talking for many years now with several groups,” Ong said.

While Suyen has entered Singapore in the 1990’s, it had to shut down its operations there because of problems with its Singaporean counterpart.

“That is why it is very crucial to find the right partner,” he said.

In the future, he said Suyen also has plans of entering the Korea after tapping Korean pop idols Choi Siwon and Lee Donghae of Super Junior, as well as Lee Min Ho as Bench endorsers.

As part of the company’s diversification, it is bringing in three new foreign labels to the Philippines this year which include food brand Paul Patisserie and clothing brand Vero Moda.

Another apparel retailer Golden ABC, is also opening new stores in the country and abroad.

“We ended with almost 600 (stores for all brands or) 500 plus stores last year. It is safe to assume that we should be looking at about 630 stores (by year-end),” said its chief executive officer Bernie Liu.

Golden ABC manufactures and sells ready-to-wear clothing under the following brands: Penshoppe, Oxygen, ForMe, Memo, Regatta, Tyler and direct selling subsidiary Red Logo.

While the firm intends to expand locally, new stores are also seen to open overseas this year.

Liu said the company is aiming to have 15 stores each in Indonesia and in the Middle East by the end of the year.

Golden ABC currently has four Penshoppe stores in Indonesia and 10 in the Middle East located in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

As the company’s goal is to bring the Filipino brand to more countries overseas, Liu said he is in discussions with potential partners in four countries, with some located in Asia and  in North America.

“We are currently talking to four but it is a very slow  process...We don’t want to rush into opening and (find) it is not sustainable, so we are very careful and working with the right partners,” he said.

In the past, Golden ABC opened about four to five stores in China, but had to close all outlets as it encountered difficulty in directly operating the shops.

Even as the firm is receiving inquiries from foreign firms for other Golden ABC brands to go overseas, Liu also said the firm wants to be more cautious in choosing partners.

Asked if the company is interested to bring foreign brands here, he said there are no plans at the moment.

“We are not entertaining because I want to focus my energy and resources into bringing our brand to the rest of the world,” said Liu.