Philippine Seven Corp., the operator of 7-Eleven convenience stores in the country, said it has set aside a capital expenditure (capex) budget of P1 billion for this year to put up more stores in residential areas.
Jose Victor Paterno, the company’s president and CEO, said the company is set to build more of its modular stores, a smaller type of 7-Eleven that will occupy about 120 to 150 square meters, in residential areas. These modular stores can be built in about 30 days and will only work for land-leased branches. These stores can easily be transferred somewhere else when needed.
Paterno also said 7-Eleven stores now carry more essential products.
“We’re trying to get a larger share of that [essential goods] as many customers are looking for those products. We spend much of this year working on that it requires more skus [stock-keeping unit], more items. We’ve gotten a new warehouse to house those [items],” he said in a media briefing.
“We believe we are better prepared to face today’s situation and tomorrow’s. The earnings will reflect that,” Paterno said, adding that the company may post an income this year. The company recorded a P419.71-million loss in 2020.
This year’s capex, which was 41 percent lower than the previous year’s P1.7 billion, will be spent mostly on opening some 200 stores, a chunk of which will be modular branches in residential areas. The company has so far opened 75 stores this year, largely in residential areas as it stopped expanding into commercial business districts (CBDs).
In 2019, it spent some P3 billion in capex as it opened 350 stores.
Last year, the company managed to open 174 new stores, bringing its December 2020 total to 2,987. The 174 new stores opened last year was a 50-percent drop in new store openings compared with the 2019 record. The majority of the new stores can be found in areas where competitors continue to expand.
The company, however, permanently closed 100 stores due to the pandemic.
Earlier this week, the company opened its 3000th store in Lawa Road, Meywoods Subdivision, Meycauayan, Bulacan.
“We are experimenting with modular stores. We see it as a platform to expand our considerable payments business. We have barcode-capable ATM, where you can withdraw as long as you have KYC [know-your-customer]. We will be launching a KYC service this quarter in partnership with digital KYC provider. It is also our bet on financial inclusion,” Paterno said.