SSI adds 2 new global brands

MANILA, Philippines - SSI Group Inc., the country’s largest specialty retailer, has added two more international brands to its current roster of 103 specialty brands that already include global icons Hermès, Prada, Gucci, and Lacoste, among others.

The new brands are seen to bolster the Tantoco-owned upscale retailer’s business which already operates 655 specialty stores across 68 major malls in the country.

“We have several new brands that we have signed up, not all of which will surely reach December. We have another two that are already confirmed, one of the two will definitely catch this year while the other one will open January or February,” SSI president Anthony T. Huang said.

The names of the upcoming brands have not been identified yet.

Huang said the IPO-bound company believes market demand locally for brands catering to the middle income to the upscale segment will continue its growth in the coming years.  

“I think at this point in time all of these offerings are still very new. Disposable income of the market it caters to is continuing to grow so I don’t think the market is near saturation level at this point in time,” he said.

Huang said mall developments outside the nation’s capital as well as the company’s upcoming e-commerce venture would allow SSI to tap into new consumers outside even Metro Manila.

For the fourth quarter of the year, Huang said SSI is expecting sales to perform better than last year on the back of better consumer spending and growing middle income population.

“Providing things remain steady as they’ve been in these past few months, we expect fourth quarter growth this year to be strong,” he said.

“We’re looking at sustaining our margins at this point. I think the one difference we have from other retailers is we have a great combination of both middle income brands as well as higher end luxury brands.

So if you look at our brand portfolio, it is pretty even out in terms of sales contribution on a per category basis,” Huang added.

SSI is the leading specialty store retailer in the country, retailing 103 international brands that include Hermès, Prada, Gucci, Burberry, Salvatore Ferragamo, Lacoste, Michael Kors, Kate Spade, Gap, Old Navy, Zara, Stradivarius, Bershka, Aeropostale, Samsonite, Nine West, Payless Shoe Source, Beauty Bar, Marks and Spencer, Pottery Barn and TWG, among others.

For this past nine months of the year alone, SSI has already added 19 new brands in its growing portfolio.

SSI is bound to be the fourth company to list on the local bourse this year with its market debut targeted on Nov. 7.