FamilyMart to upgrade stores

THE local operator of FamilyMart convenience stores refurbished the very first store it opened in the country, as it plans to upgrade 14 more outlets next year.

Philippine FamilyMart CVS, Inc. relaunched on Monday its store at the ground level of Glorietta 3 in Makati City, featuring its new Generation 2 design. The relaunch comes five years after the store opened in April 2013.

“We really find it a good time to reopen this store and introduce the Generation 2 concept. The changes you’ll see here is the food that we offer…. We have close to 200 to 300 products that cater to anyone who needs a food fix,” FamilyMart General Manager Roald Johann L. Yap said in an interview during the store’s reopening.

The Generation 2 store will offer new products such as Japan’s crispy chicken fillet brand Fami-Chicky, hotdog sandwiches, Japanese treats, and Filipino merienda treats.

“We’re trying to provide more food-for-now and food-for-later for our customer .... We want to provide them a wider selection of food offerings which they can either consume in store… or they can take it in the bus with them and then eat it along the way,” FamilyMart President Henry Albert R. Fadullon said in a separate interview.

Mr. Fadullon also noted that they will be able to cater to commuters, since the store stands next to the station for point-topoint bus services.

Aside from more food choices, the store will also feature expanded dining areas and new service crew uniforms designed by renowned Filipino designer Rajo Laurel.

Mr. Yap said they target to refurbish 14 more stores next year, upgrading them to the Generation 2 design.

“We want them to know that we’re investing in them, we’re investing in the brand, and that they can be really proud of the Family Mart brand,” Mr. Yap said.

FamilyMart currently operates 71 outlets in Luzon. The operator of the Japan-based convenience store was purchased by businessman Dennis A. Uy’s Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc. last year.

The brand was originally brought to the country by SIAL CVS Retailers, Inc., a joint venture between Ayala Land, Inc.’s ALI Capital Corp. and SSI Group, Inc., along with Japanese partners FamilyMart Co., Ltd., and Itochu Corp.

Phoenix Petroleum’s acquisition is seen to fast-track FamilyMart’s expansion in the country, as it could complement the growing number of the independent oil firm’s stations nationwide. By end-June, the company operated a total of 545 stations in the country.

FamilyMart registered a seven percent average daily sales growth during the first six months of the year. Phoenix Petroleum earlier said it is working on making the business profitable by 2019.