LAWSON CEO aims to open up to 2,000 stores within the next few years.
The Japanese convenience store wars here in the Philippines is about to reach its peak as Takeshi Niinami, CEO of the LAWSON convenience store chain, reveals that he is looking for potential business partners to set up a Philippine subsidiary of his company.
In an interview with Bloomberg Television‘s David Ingles during the World Economic Forum on East Asia happening in Makati City, Niinami says he is targeting to enter the Philippine market “within the year” and may open “1,000 to 2,000 [stores] within a few years’ time.”
Niinami also says he plans to differentiate LAWSON from its fellow Japanese competitors in the Philippines like 7-Eleven, Mini-Stop and Family Mart by targeting upper-middle class consumers and providing “value-added products and . . . service to be brought from Japan.”
LAWSON is one of Japan’s biggest convenience store chains with 11,606 stores in the East Asian country, with overseas subsidiaries already operating in Indonesia and Thailand.
The chain is also known for running marketing tie-ups for various anime series like K-ON!, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Bakemonogatari, Free! and Attack on Titan.
SOURCES: Bloomberg, David Ingles on Twitter
