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Tag: Philippines

  • IKEA to open stores in Philippines, looking for designer

    IKEA to open stores in Philippines, looking for designer

    Swedish furniture-maker IKEA will open stores in the Philippines after it found a local partner, a spokesman for its worldwide franchisor said.

    Inter IKEA Systems B.V. has awarded the franchise right in the Philippines to a company called Ikano, according to its spokesperson, Josefin Thorell.

    Singapore-based IKEA Southeast Asia also posted a job opening on recruitment website LinkedIn for a Manila-based design manager in late January.

    IKEA’s simple but sturdy designs and self-assembly products are now familiar in homes around the globe and the retailer is aiming to generate 50 billion euros ($62 billion) in annual revenues by 2020.

    Reports of its impending arrival has in recent years stirred excitement on social media.

    “We are very happy to confirm that Inter IKEA Systems has taken the decision to open IKEA stores in the Philippines and that the franchise right for the Philippine market has been allocated to Ikano,” Thorell said in an email to ABS CBN News.

    The Manila designer will “work close together with the design team and play a decisive role in planning, executing and planning our first IKEA store in the Philippines,” according to the LinkedIn post, which expires on Feb. 28.

    Ikano Group is engaged in finance, real estate and retail. It’s marketing manager, Jasmin Cruz, said the company had been registered with the Board of Investments for 2 years.

    Ikano Pte Ltd, the Southeast Asian franchisor of IKEA, pre-qualified as a foreign retailer in the Philippines in December 2016, according to a list from the BOI.

  • Chinese tourists drive WeChat Pay growth in Philippines

    Chinese tourists drive WeChat Pay growth in Philippines

    Chinese tourists are helping drive the growth of cashless payments using Tencent’s WeChat in the Philippines, according to its Filipino partner, Asia United Bank.

    Chinese tourist arrivals are projected to hit 1 million. Staying in the country for 8 days on average, WeChat Pay in the Philippines can generate up to P48 billion in revenue, said AUB vice president and credit card business head Mags Vazquez Surtida.

    “The transaction counts are increasing. The transaction values are increasing. We can see more merchants. We see the growth happening on a daily basis,” Surtida said.

    WeChat Pay is accepted in 1,000 retail outlets in the Philippines, including hotels and restaurants, Surtida said. The number of daily transactions recently reached up to 2,500 in the run-up to the Chinese New Year, twice the average per day, she said.

    The value of single transactions were as high as P90,000, recorded in Boracay. Diners spend P6,000 to P12,000 while shoppers pay P4,000 to P7,000 using WeChat Pay, she said, Surtida said.

    Surtida said AUB hoped to grow the number of WeChat Pay merchants in the Philippines to 5,000 by March.

  • Jollibee craves for more stake in Smashburger

    Jollibee craves for more stake in Smashburger

    Jollibee Foods Corporation has agreed to acquire an extra 45 per cent of the US Smashburger brand for US$100 million, giving it a controlling stake of 85 per cent.

    “Jollibee has been an invaluable strategic partner,” says Smashburger co-founder/CEO Tom Ryan.

    His company last year launched and sold nearly 2 million Triple Double Burgers, setting record levels of mix, sales and traffic. The company also launched the Smash Pass, a subscription-based loyalty program.

    Smashburger CFO Bradford Reynolds says Jollibee’s majority stake in Smashburger positions the brand for continued growth, particularly in Southeast Asia.

    As well as beef and turkey burgers, Smashburger offers grilled or crispy chicken sandwiches, black-bean burgers, salads, side items and hand-spun Haagen-Dazs shakes. For each market, the menu includes locally inspired items as well as local craft beer. Launched in 2007, the chain now has more than 360 corporate and franchise restaurants in 38 states and nine countries.

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  • Dairy Farm to have more shares in pharmacy

    Dairy Farm to have more shares in pharmacy

    Hong Kong retail giant Dairy Farm has received official approval to increase its stake in Philippine drugstore chain Rose Pharmacy.

    It is doing this through its European investment vehicle Mulgrave Corporation, which has received the nod from the Philippine Board of Investments (BOI). It seeks to raise its shareholding in Cebu-based Rose Pharmacy from 49 to 51 per cent. Financial details of the deal have not been disclosed.

    Rose Pharmacy has 252 pharmacies nationwide.

    Trade undersecretary and BOI managing head Ceferino Rodolfo says that aside from increasing its stake in Rose Pharmacy, Mulgrave also plans acquisitions and to expand retail outlets.

    Based in Amsterdam, Mulgrave Corporation runs supermarkets through a subsidiary. In turn, Mulgrave is a subsidiary of Dairy Farm International Holdings.

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  • Arabica Coffee Opens in the Philippines

    Arabica Coffee Opens in the Philippines

    After nearly a year of planning, Kyoto’s % Arabica Coffee has opened its first store for the Philippines.

    It is in Manila’s Bonifacio Global City and is the result of the efforts of a mother-and-daughter team that has been travelling around the world looking for the best coffee spots. Allue Hortazela says she and her mother could not forget the taste of % Arabica, prompting her to return to the Kyoto main branch of % Arabica to contact the owner with the hope of launching a branch in the Philippines.

    Founded in 2014 by Kenneth Shoji, % Arabica uses 100 per cent Arabica coffee beans sourced internationally from countries such as Brazil, Guatemala and Japan.

    To support the opening of the Manila branch, % Arabica global and Kyoto head barista Junichi Yamaguchi flew from Japan to oversee the crafting of coffee for every customer.

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  • PH’s 1st Outlet mall opens August

    PH’s 1st Outlet mall opens August

    Cathay Land, Inc. and London-based Freeport Retail are set to open the first Outlet mall in the Philippines on August 2.

    Some PHP2.5 billion was invested for the construction of Outlet mall in Tagaytay City which sits along Km.48 Aguinaldo Highway, Silang, Cavite.

    Cathay Land President Jeffrey Ng said the Cavite-Laguna Expressway would make the Acienda Designer Outlet mall accessible from Metro Manila as it would be only 30 minutes away from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and the Entertainment City.

    Outlet mall’s target market is Tagaytay’s 16.5 million locals and tourists with above-average income level and high level of fashion consciousness.

    “With Tagaytay City being a popular tourist destination among locals and tourists, we are confident that they will all enjoy our promise of high quality Outlet shopping at par with what they experience abroad,” said Ng.

    He added that the company is bullish in its first Outlet mall here with the country’s strong retail industry driven by rising income, remittances, and tourist arrivals.

    With this, Cathay Land and Freeport Retail are out to find strategic locations for their second Outlet mall in the Philippines set for launching within three years.

    “In 2012 we started our focus on Asia, which is a major Outlet opportunity. Our Outlet village in Malaysia opened at the end of 2015,” Freeport Retail Co-Founder and Commercial Director Chris Milliken said, adding that Kuala Lumpur now has three Outlet malls.

    An Outlet mall in Australia also opens on the same date with the launching of Acienda Designer Outlet mall in Tagaytay.

     

  • Vista Land targets to have 60 malls by 2020

    Vista Land targets to have 60 malls by 2020

    Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc., the property-development firm led by former politician Manuel B. Villar Jr., said it targets to have 60 malls by the end of 2020, a threefold increase from what it has right now.

    “We remain bullish with the expansion plans of our leasing business through our subsidiary, Starmalls Inc., to add 38 more malls in the next three years,” said Villar, the Vista Land chairman. Currently, the company and its subsidiaries have 22 malls.

    “We remain optimistic for the industry, given the strong demand for our commercial spaces and housing products, propelled by the stable growth in the disposable income, OFW remittances and sound Philippine macroeconomic fundamentals,” he said.

    Consolidated capital-expenditure budget for 2018 was set at P50 billion, a significant portion of which was allotted to the construction of malls. The company expects to hit 1.4 million square meters (sq m) in gross floor area by the end of this year, from last year’s 1 million sq m. The said target is bigger than its previous target of 1.3 million sq m. “Our company is poised to have another banner year for 2018, as our additional leasable spaces are now contributing significantly to our current financial results, in addition to the sustained double-digit growth in our residential business. We are looking at a double digit 10-percent to 15-percent consolidated net income growth this year,”

    Vista Land President and CEO Manuel Paolo Villar said. Vista Land has an established presence in about 133 cities and municipalities across 46 provinces, and intends to focus on the development of its communities, integrated urban development combining lifestyle retail, prime office space, university town, health care, themed residential developments and leisure components. The companies owned by Villar are allotting some P175 billion in capital expenditures through 2020, mainly in real estate, property leasing, retail, hotel, education and health.

    About 60 percent of the total capex will go to real-estate development and about a third of the amount to leasing and retail business, as well as for the development of new retail concepts.

    “We are very bullish [for 2018], as we take advantage of the various collaborations among our companies, in addition to the sustained sound Philippine macroeconomic fundamentals. Our various expansion programs implemented in our property development, including memorial parks, malls and retail businesses, are yielding positive results and are taking advantage of the significant synergies that we have unlocked,” Villar said.

    His listed firm Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc. will pursue its plan to put up malls and residential projects in the countryside, as it aims to deliver double-digit growth in the next three years, while All Value Holdings Corp., a privately held firm of the family, will be going full blast with the expansion of its home improvement, supermarket, bakeshop and coffee-shop businesses.

    Villar said the capex will be funded by both internally generated cash and borrowings.

     

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  • Les Nereides Paris opened Philippines store

    Les Nereides Paris opened Philippines store

    LES Nereides Paris, the iconic French jewelry design house known for its handcrafted romantic and lyrical designs, has finally opened its first store in the Philippines last January 23 at Greenbelt 3, Makati City.

    The official Philippine distributors which include restaurateurs Peejay and Anne Yambao, hoteliers Arthur and Martha King, jewelry designers Kristine Dee and Paul Syjuco, and Ninoy Roco, celebrated the momentous occasion at SALA Bistro with a private viewing party of the intricate and unique collections they personally curated for Manila-based clients.

    “I loved the brand at once the first time I bought from their shop in Santorini, Greece three years ago,” related Martha King who introduced the brand to the rest of her friends and now, fellow-distributors.  “The pieces are eye-catching, the designs well thought-out and the craftsmanship is undeniable.”

    Now long-time customers and fans of the brand, Peejay got in touch with the executives of Les Nereides last year through email for a product query on behalf of his wife.

    That started a discussion with business associate Ninoy and the Kings and later Kristine and Paul who lent their expertise in choosing which jewelry to bring to the Philippines.

    Designed in France, each piece is meticulously handmade by artisans, made of malleable brass that are gilded with 14k fine gold and molds perfectly to the execution of elaborate designs.

    Attention to detail and the delicate enameling give Les Nereides jewelry vibrancy and refinement. No two pieces are exactly alike.

    Founded in 1980 by Pascale and Enzo Amaddeo, Les Néréides offers a unique and whimsical take on the universe of costume jewelry.  Inspired by nature and animals, each collection unfolds a most poetic story and conveys emotions, while deploying the same high-precision savoir-faire as Haute Joaillerie.

    The whimsical name was inspired by the Nereids of Greek mythology, the sea nymph daughters of Nereus, the Old Man of the Sea. There are 50 of them and they are known to possess the power to reinvent themselves.

    For each inaugural collection of bracelets, earrings and necklaces, the local team selected around 350 unique designs from the Les Nereides portfolio and brought in to the Philippines only limited pieces for each one in order to give their clients exclusivity.

    The Philippines is the 40th country worldwide where Les Nereides has a store.

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  • Pizza Express opened in Philippines

    Pizza Express opened in Philippines

    Italian flavours from the UK have landed in the Philippines, with Pizza Express offering casual dining at Uptown Place Mall in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.

    Peter Boizot founded Pizza Express as a small shop in London’s Soho district, and after five decades has about 472 shops in Britain plus branches in Cyprus, Gibraltar, India, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia and the Middle East.

    No two Pizza Express restaurants are identical. in the world look exactly alike. Head of international business development Hakim Haouchine says the design of each restaurant depends on its location, stemming from the 97-year-old founder’s philosophy and love for music and art.

    The Philippine branch has black and white floors, green chairs, a 3D map of London as a wall feature, white marble counters and an all-white open kitchen.

    Haouchine says the restaurant is not authentic Italian but rather “inspired Italian”. “We believe in innovation and have our own way of delivering food4”.

    Once the brand has settled in the market, it will add special dishes for Filipinos, following the example of Peking duck pizza in China and chili-crab pizza in Singapore.

    For the Philippine market, the brand franchise is held by the Tasteless Food Group, which is behind such restaurants as Hanamaruken, Le Petit Souffle and the Hole in the Wall food hall.

  • Max’s to bring Pancake House to Saudi Arabia

    Max’s to bring Pancake House to Saudi Arabia

    Max’s Group Incorporated (MGI) is to take its Philippine casual-dining chain Pancake House to Saudi Arabia.

    In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), MGI says it has partnered with Al-Bader National Establishment for Real-Estate Development to open 12 outlets in Saudi Arabia within the next five years.

    MGI president/CEO Robert Trota says the company is targeting 20 to 30 new outlets for this year, mainly across its core brands Max’s Restaurant, Pancake House and Yellow Cab Pizza. It aims to end the year with about 75 to 80 stores abroad.

    MGI’s partner in the venture was founded in 2001 and is primarily engaged in real-estate trading, property development and running shopping malls.

    Pancake House has seven overseas franchised outlets, in Malaysia and the UAE.

  • ZALORA announces partnership with American brand J.Crew

    ZALORA announces partnership with American brand J.Crew

    Asian online fashion destination Zalora and J.Crew have announced they are forming a partnership to expand the US brand’s reach.

    From next month, a curated range of J.Crew’s women’s ready-to-wear and shoes as well as men’s apparel and accessories will be available at Zalora.

    It is J.Crew’s first online venture with a partner into Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and the Philippines, and will strengthen its store presence in Hong Kong.

    “Through our innovative platform and expansive logistics network, J.Crew will reach shoppers well beyond capital cities reaching a far wider network of potential customers than ever before,” says Zalora Group CEO Parker Gundersen.

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  • Camper to expand its business in Philippines

    Camper to expand its business in Philippines

    Spanish casual shoe brand Camper has gained a foothold in the Philippines.

    It is offering part of its international collection at SM Aura in Taguig City, Metro Manila, including two of its core lines Drift and Runner sneakers.

    Previously the shoes were available only online in the Philippines.

    Camper was founded in Mallorca by Lorenzo Fluxa in 1975, with its heritage stretching back almost 140 years when his grandfather, cobbler Antonio Fluxa, travelled to England and returned with the first sewing machines for the island. He then started making handcrafted shoes.

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  • SM scraps Goldilocks acquisition deal

    SM scraps Goldilocks acquisition deal

    SM Retail, a subsidiary of SM Investment Corporation (SMIC), has called off a planned acquisition of Goldilocks Bakeshop chain in the Philippines.

    This follows the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) approving the takeover just last month.

    Citing changes in the business environment, SMIC corporate secretary Elmer Serrano has confirmed that SM Retail has backed out of the deal, saying it was a joint agreement.

    SMIC, through SM Prime Holdings (SMPHI), runs nearly 70 SM Malls in the Philippines, while Goldilocks has a network of more than 500 stores, some of which are in SM Malls. The acquisition would have made Goldilocks a subsidiary of SM Retail.

    Both parties had committed to address potential competition issues when submitting details of the proposal to the PCC. Concerns included the possibility of limited retail space in SM Malls for Goldilocks’ competitors. There were also concerns SM Retail might gain access to competitors’ sales information.

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  • Philippine Economy Posts 6.6 Percent GDP Growth in the Fourth Quarter of 2017

    Philippine Economy Posts 6.6 Percent GDP Growth in the Fourth Quarter of 2017

    Gross Domestic Product (GDP) posted a 6.6 percent growth in the fourth quarter of 2017, driving the economy to grow by 6.7 percent for the entire year of 2017.

    Manufacturing, Trade and Real Estate, Renting and Business Activities were the main drivers of growth for the fourth quarter.

    Among the major economic sectors during the fourth quarter of 2017, Industry had the fastest growth of 7.3 percent, followed by Services which grew by 6.8 percent during the quarter. Agriculture grew by 2.4 percent, rebounding from a 1.3 percent decline in the same quarter of the previous year.

    Net Primary Income (NPI) accelerated by 4.1 percent compared with the 3.3 percent growth recorded in the fourth quarter of 2016. As a result, Gross National Income (GNI) posted a growth of 6.2 percent, faster than previous year’s growth of 6.0 percent. On an annual basis, GNI grew by 6.5 percent, while NPI’s growth is at 5.6 percent.
    With the country’s projected population reaching 105.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2017, per capita GDP and per capita GNI grew by 5.1 percent and 4.7percent, respectively.

  • Bench Café Opens At The New Bench Flagship Store

    Bench Café Opens At The New Bench Flagship Store

    Philippine clothing brand Bench has opened its own cafe, in its Bonifacio High Street flagship store in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.

    The interior was designed by Miguel Pastor, and the food is by the Foodee Group under executive chef Carlo Miguel. He has lined up such Filipino dishes as Binagoongan Caesar and “bento boxes” with soup, vegetables, rice and choice of ulam (entree) like fried tilapia and bistek (beef steak).

    “Through food, we tell stories of our past, present and future by making local traditions accessible to more Filipinos and Filipinos at heart,” says Bench, a casual clothing brand that now has a presence in China and the US. It is endorsed by local and international celebrities including Adam Levine, Bruno Mars, Lee Min Ho, Liam Hemsworth and Nicole Scherzinger.

    The company that owns Bench also has franchise rights to such international brands as Aldo, American Eagle Outfitters and Jo Malone. It also manages international restaurant chains like Pablo Cheese Tart and Paul boulangerie.