(Photo from https://www.facebook.com/rustansph)
RETAIL giant, Rustan’s Supercenters Inc. (RSI) will open its first Wellcome Store in Cebu this year and is actively looking for a second site for its hypermart brand Shopwise.
The whole group, which includes Rustan’s Supermarket, the neighborhood store Wellcome and the hypermart Shopwise, is in expansion mode after they have sealed partnership with the Dairy Farm International Group in 2012, said Aggie G. Artadi, RSI marketing director last Wednesday.
“We are aggressively expanding. From an average of one store opening every two years, we have grown ten times. Last year we opened 13 new stores,” said Artadi.
She said in Cebu, they only have one Shopwise and two Rustan’s Supermarket stores in Cebu.
The group decided to bring in their third brand as Cebu’s economy continues to grow.
“Within the year, we will be opening the first Wellcome shop in Minglanilla, Cebu. That area near Camella Homes,” she said.
She said they think the neighborhood shop should be very well effective in penetrating communities in Cebu like subdivisions which are also growing fast with the many developments going on.
They plan to open two more Shopwise shops in Luzon to end the year with 14 of these shops in the country.
“In Cebu, we are looking at the northern areas for a second Shopwise store. We have visited possible sites in Consolacion, Lilo-an and Danao,” she said.
“By June, we (Rustan’s Supermarket) will also be transferring to the new expansion area of Ayala Center Cebu. That’s a huge place and we are considering to also setup a Shopwise store there,” she said.