Retail companies owned by businessman and former Senate President Manuel Villar have closed 26 stores between January and September as the group shifts from expansion toward tighter costs, leaner operations, and better returns from its remaining footprint.
AllHome Corp., the Villar group’s home-improvement retailer, shut 13 stores during the nine months, leaving it with 34 outlets as of Sept. 29, down from 47 at the end of 2025.
AllDay Marts Inc., meanwhile, closed another 13 stores, cutting its network to 13 from 26 over the same period.
The companies confirmed the closures in responses to questions about their retail operations, describing the moves as part of store-network optimization and rationalization programs designed to improve operating efficiency and support long-term profitability.
The retrenchment marks a notable shift in emphasis for Villar’s retail businesses, whose founder was once ranked by Forbes as the Philippines’ wealthiest man. Instead of adding outlets, the companies are concentrating on making their remaining stores more productive and less costly to operate.
AllHome said it is resizing underperforming locations and realigning store operations based on sales throughput, customer traffic, and operational requirements. The objective is to right-size manpower and eliminate excess costs while maintaining service quality.
AllDay said it remains committed to grocery retail but plans to selectively adopt smaller mini-mart formats to improve operating efficiency and better serve its target market.
Both companies also cited cost discipline and active liquidity management, including working-capital optimization, prudent cash prioritization, and tighter alignment of operating expenses with current business levels.
The strategy is revealing. In retail, a bigger footprint can signal growth, but it can also multiply rent, manpower, inventory, utilities, and other costs. Closing stores that fail to earn their keep can therefore be less a retreat than an attempt to stop losses from spreading.
For Villar’s retail businesses, the numbers now tell a different story from the expansion years. The priority is no longer how many stores can be opened, but how much value can be extracted from those that remain.
