Saha Lawson JV plans to expand convenience-store chain in Asean
After forming a joint venture in March with Saha Pathanapibul to operate the latter's 108 Shops, Lawson Inc, operator of Japan's second-largest convenience-store chain, has set out a plan for ambitious growth in Asean with Thailand as its regional base.
Takeshi Niinami, chief executive officer and representative director of Lawson, who in charge of the firm’s overseas business strategy, said yesterday that Thailand remained a dominant and strategically critical country in this region, and this would be even more the case after 2015.
“We will position Thailand as a strategic base for expanding our business, and we are also aiming to set up a merchandise development centre for the Asean region, with the cooperation of various business partners. We also plan to establish a training centre to support skill development of our people and foster a learning culture in the region to contribute better to our customers.”
Boonsithi Chokwatana, chairman of Saha Group, said the partnership and business plan would create a new network of convenience stores across the Kingdom in the future and provide an alternative to the market.
Lawson will gradually convert Saha’s 108 Shop convenience-store chain into Lawson 108s. It will renovate some existing shops and build some new ones in Bangkok and nearby provinces.
Lawson 108 will offer fresh original food and merchandise with high-standard Japanese quality using the best raw ingredients, according to the company.
Saha Lawson Co yesterday opened its first Lawson 108 store at The Emporio Place in Bangkok.
Boonsithi said the company would accelerate its store-expansion plan from September. It plans to open 50 Lawson 108 stores this year and have 1,000 across the country within five years. It expects the cost per branch to be Bt5 million, he said.
Furthermore, Saha Lawson will provide attractive products and services tailored for the food culture and the customer’s needs in Thailand. It will bring proven expertise and excellence from Japan, which is well accepted in Thailand.
“We are applying the technology of Lawson in Japan to leverage Lawson 108 in Thailand. The technology will help analyse the requirements of Thai consumers, and this will lead to product development to tap [new] customers,” he said.
Boonsithi said the company was conducting a feasibility study on opening Lawson 108s in Myanmar because consumer spending is rising there.
Lawson’s overseas network at present is in China, Indonesia and Thailand.
Saha Pathanapibul, a giant in consumer products and a listed company, reported net profit in the second quarter of Bt395.15 million, up from Bt305.62 million in the same quarter last year. The net profit in the first half was Bt690.35 million against Bt515.51 million year on year.
