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7-Eleven targets 400-store mark by end of 2008

02/17/2008

Publicly listed Philippine Seven Corporation, operator of the highly successful 7-Eleven convenience store chain, announced that it will double its efforts to achieve its next landmark expansion by opening new outlets to reach its next milestone of 400 stores this year.

The announcement came in the wake of the three-year expansion plan announced by PSC President Jose Victor Paterno, which aims to grow the highly-successful 7-Eleven franchise model to a total of 500 stores spread around Metro Manila and Luzon by 2010.

Currently, PSC is operating 311 stores, 52% of which are franchised, with the rest owned and operated by the company. This gives them less than 100 remaining to be set up before year end.

“By targeting 400 stores this early, we will be able to lessen the pressure and even allocate better resources towards identifying prime franchise candidates from our emerging crop of entrepreneurs and OFWs,” Paterno said.

The PSC president also revealed that the additional stores will also include company owned stores that will be set up in previously untapped areas in order to further boost the presence of 7-Eleven around Metro Manila and the nearby provinces.

According to Paterno, the aggressive expansion plans of PSC were also buoyed by the improving economic outlook in the country, boosted by the booming business process outsourcing industry, the steady stream of overseas worker remittances, the resurgence of the real estate market, the growing number of tourist arrivals in the country, as well as the stable inflation outlook for the year.

PSC Business Development Head Francis Medina, on the other hand, stressed that there is still more than enough room to grow the business in Metro Manila and Luzon, such that further expansion in the Visayas and Mindanao region can be done even after 2010.

“We still have a lot of untapped and potential places, especially those who own old business establishments that can be converted into a 7-Eleven franchise. By partnering with us and opening up a 7-Eleven store of their own, they can boost their profit generating potential with a proven and world-class business model,” said Medina.

Medina also revealed that the current infrastructure and operations processes of PSC are already in place to easily absorb the influx of new stores in the coming months. The centralized warehousing facilities, as well as the networked POS system and other product and service-related measures are already being streamlined to better serve the additional load of franchisee and company-owned stores.

Among the areas currently opened by PSC for franchising are La Union, Baguio, Olongapo, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Bulacan, Laguna, Batangas, Quezon, Cavite and Metro Manila. For inquiries, call 726-9968 or 0920-9508651, or visit www.7-eleven.com.ph.