Philippines targered by Japanese convenience store giant

The Philippines has been targeted by Japanese convenience store giant Lawson Inc., a move that would further heat up the retail scene in one of Southeast Asia’s fastest growing economy.

Lawson is partnering with a local firm to put up as much as 2,000 convenience stores in the long term, targeting the growing middle class population, its top official said last week.

“The Philippines is very strong in consumption. I am very interested in entering it,” Lawson chairman Takeshi Niinami told The STAR on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum for East Asia 2014.

“We have to have an economy of scale so [Lawson convenience stores] should exceed 1,000-2,000 within a couple of years, depending on how we manage the business with the local partner,” Niinami said.

The Philippines would become the third Southeast Asian country to be tapped by Lawson which has 61 branches in Indonesia and 29 stores in Thailand. The Japanese firms owns convenience store brands Lawson, Lawson Store 100 and Natural Lawson.

“Definitely we have to make this happen within a year,” Niinami said, adding that the aggressive expansion program would be implemented in the next five to 10 years.

As of end-March, Lawson had 11,716 stores in Japan, 389 in China and four in the US.

Niinami said the Philippines will become a major part in the overseas operations of the company which is partnering with a local firm that knows the Filipino taste.