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MANILA - Watsons is bullish on its growth prospects in the Philippines as it seeks to expand its footprint, particularly in the provinces, in a bid to "catch up" with other retailers.
Robert U Sun, general manager of Watsons Personal Care Stores (Phils) Inc, said it will roll out 40 new stores nationwide this year after closing 2012, its 10th year of operations in the Philippines, with 315 outlets.
"Last year, the budget was 40 [stores] but we exceeded our budget and opened 47. This year, our budget is 40 but if we can do more than 40, we can actually open more than that," Sun said.
Watsons, which sells medicines and beauty products, is a joint venture between the SM Group and the AS Watsons Group of Hong Kong. About 75 percent of Watsons' total store network is located inside SM malls, but the company intends to put up more standalone stores in urban centers across the country.
"We need to grow faster because our stores are smaller so we cannot be just dependent on the rolling out of malls of SM," Sun said.
"We want to accelerate our outside-the-mall [stores] eventually because when we go to the provinces, not all provinces have malls. They are not yet developed. We're currently looking at places where people both live and work -- that's the criteria," he said.
With its branch network, Watsons still has a "long way to go compared to our other retail peers,” but unlike other retailers that have opened their doors to franchising, the company is not banking on it to accelerate growth, Sun said.
"You have better control of the services and prices if you operate it on your own," he added.
Watsons is "very positive" on the growth potential of the Philippines. It expects to grow sales by 12 percent this year, double the government’s economic growth target of 6-7 percent and slightly faster than the company's 11-percent expansion in 2012, said Sun.
"We're about close to 8 percent of Asia. Philippines is not bad. We are growing and everyone wants to expand in the Philippines especially the foreigners because they see the passion of the Filipinos and the growing market," he said.
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