Japan’s Lawson sets Philippine debut

MANILA, Philippines – Japan convenience store giant Lawson will finally make its debut in the Philippines this month.

Puregold Price Club Inc. president Leonardo Dayao confirmed that the first Lawson convenience store in the country will open by the end of the month.

The maiden Philippine Lawson outlet, the first of 50 branches to open this year, was targeted to open early this year but has faced certain delay in construction, Dayao said.

“We will definitely open by the end of the quarter at the latest,” he said.

Dayao said the first store would have a size of about 120 square meters and would be located in a mixed commercial residential area in Metro Manila.

Lucio Co-controlled Puregold and its Japanese partner Lawson Asia Pacific Inc. intend to open 50 Lawson stores this year at a cost of about P5 million to P6 million each. Total investments for the 50 stores may reach up to P300 million.

Puregold officials earlier said the Lawson outlets are eyed to open in central business districts and university belts across Metro Manila.

Under an agreement signed in June last year, Puregold and Lawson would jointly build and operate the Lawson convenience stores in the country wherein the former would invest 70 percent in the joint venture, while the latter would own the remaining 30 percent.

Puregold plans to make the first 200 stores as company-owned branches before opening its doors to franchising.

Over the long term, Puregold is targeting to open 500 Lawson stores in the country over the next five years.

The Puregold-Lawson venture is expected to heat up competition in the convenience store business in the country.

7-Eleven is currently the largest convenience store chain in the country followed by MiniStop of the Gokongwei family’s Robinsons Retail Holdings and Japan’s Ministop Co. Ltd.

Not far behind is FamilyMart brought into the country by the consortium of the Ayala and Rustans groups and Japan’s Itochu.

This year, Puregold has set a capital spending of P5.5 billion to be utilized for another aggressive retail expansion.