Sep 22, 2013
THE business unit of former Sen. Manuel Villar wants to make it big in the retail sector in the coming years as the company considers putting up convenience, home and appliance stores all over the country. Villar, who now heads listed property developer Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc. as well as mall and office leasing venture Starmalls Inc., said there is synergy in its foray into retail business. “We are big in property development and we want to become big in retailing as well. We want to capitalize on our being the [country’s] largest home builder,” Villar said, at the sidelines of the launch of the company’s All Home branch in San Fernando, Pampanga, over the weekend. All Home is a one-stop home and appliance store business. Villar said the company is wants the brand to be known as a supplier of home furnishings and appliances for all its property developments. “But we want to use it not only to supply our requirements but also to serve our buyers and everybody as well,” Villar said. At the moment All Home has five small-format branches situated in Antipolo, San Jose del Monte in Bulacan, Metropolis Mall in Alabang, another in Muntinlupa and in San Fernando, Pampanga. Villar said he wants to build five more larger format branches next year. He declined to disclose the locations of the said branches. A small-format unit costs about P50 million to build, excluding the property, as most of these will be inside malls. The larger-format stores will have around 10,000 square meters in floor area and costs around P300 million to build. “We are still studying the small formats this year, but next year we will go into larger formats,” the former senator said. Villar’s retail group, which will include its own brand of department stores, will fall under the MBV Holdings Corp., a company that was incorporated in May this year. Capitalization is only at P500 million but Villar said his family plans to increase that to P1 billion in the coming months. The convenience stores brand called All Day will have 100 stores by the end of the year from the current 80 branches, mostly in Metro Manila and Luzon. The company rebranded its own group of convenience stores, formerly known as Finds, due to the lukewarm reception of the general public. Villar said he wants to compete head on with the international brands such as Ministop and 7-Eleven, whose master franchise in the Philippines are owned by the Gokongwei and Paterno families, respectively. “We are only operating in Luzon but we have to go nationwide and we have to compete [with the major players],” he said, adding that he sees the number of branches to reach 200 by 2
—
