Philippine Seven Corp., master franchise holder operating 7-Eleven convenience stores in the Philippines, projects to end the year with at least 4,000 stores across the country, a significant number of the new ones in Mindanao.
Jose Victor Paterno, Philippine Seven chief executive officer, said the company budgeted P4.5 billion in capital expenditures to add 450 stores.
In the first six months the company opened 170. As at end-2023, its store network number 3,768.
Of the projected capital spending, 60 percent will fund the opening of new stores 60 percent of which are franchised-owned.
“We’re also allotting (funds) to remodel older stores as we renew the contract of existing stores,” Paterno said.
Paterno said the company is securing the paperwork necessary to speed up the setting up of shops.
“If I could press the magic button, we’d have 300 more stores there tomorrow. Fortunately, it takes time. We saw this trend really solidify in mid-2022 and since then it has been our target for greater expansion in those areas,” he said.
Paterno said the disposable income in Mindanao has grown over the years and the public are looking for channels to spend them.
“You know they want convenience. We opened more stores this year and we’re opening even more next year because the new store sales are very high,” he said.
This tells them, Paterno said, the enterprise is not opening fast enough and in response accredited more contractors in the Visayas and set up a business development staff to acquire sites.
“We are bullish on the growth in the regions,” he quipped.
Philippine Seven only has 110 stores in Mindanao. It has 552 stores in the Visayas and 3,000 in Luzon.
