The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
Listed Philippine Seven Corp. (PSC), the local licensee of convenience store 7-Eleven, plans to put up 412 new stores in an expansion offensive worth P3.5 billion to support its target 20-percent growth this year.
PSC President and Chief Executive Officer Jose Victor Paterno said the firm would open 50 stores in Mindanao, another 50 stores in the Visayas and the remaining 312 stores in Luzon.
Global brand 7-Eleven was founded 90 years ago by the Southland Ice Co., later renamed the Southland Corp. and later to 7-Eleven Inc. in 1999, in Dallas, Texas
The first 7-Eleven store in the Philippines opened at the corner of Edsa and Kamias Road in 1984. Philippine Seven Corp. then went public in 1998.
7-Eleven currently has 61,560 stores all over the world, according to Ena Williams, senior vice president of the Global Expansion Team of 7-Eleven Inc.
Paterno said franchisees accounted for 50 percent of the total number of stores to be built, while the other 50 percent were corporate-owned stores.
“I think consumption is still strong so we continue to be bullish on the consumer sector,” Paterno told reporters on the sidelines of the company’s opening of its 2,000th store in the country.
He cited marketing research firm Nielsen’s survey result indicating business formats that are growing, including convenience stores, sari-sari stores and grocery.
With the firm’s accelerated store expansion, Paterno expects store network reaching 3,500 to 4,000 by 2020.
PSC’s retail sales of all stores surged by 23 percent to P32 billion in 2016.
The latest addition to the growing list of 7-Eleven stores opened its doors last March 8 at the LV Locsin Building, 6752 Makati Avenue, Legazpi Village, Makati.
Though a global brand, 7-Eleven adapts to the needs of their customers and their community locally. With 2,000 stores nationwide, 7-Eleven is now more accessible to more Pinoys as it continues to serve its customers with snacks, drinks, meals and other services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for over 3 decades.
With only 500 stores seven years ago, PSC was able to expand to 1,000 stores in 2014, and now to 2,000 stores in just over 2 years.
Aside from adding more stores, 7-Eleven also expanded its reach to become nationwide by opening its very first store in Visayas in 2012 and Mindanao in 2015. Currently, 7-Eleven has 255 stores in Visayas and 107 stores in Mindanao.