KLUANG, MALAYSIA: Aeon Big (M) Sdn Bhd plans to open six new hypermarkets as part of the company’s strategy to further strengthen its presence in the retail segment in Malaysia.
Its managing director and Aeon Asean chief executive officer, Nagahisa Oyama, said all the six outlets would be opened between 2014 and 2016 in Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Perak, Selangor and Terengganu.
“We are now focusing on secondary towns in these states as they (secondary towns) also offer good long-term growth prospects for us,’’ said Oyama at the opening of Aeon Big Kluang outlet on Saturday.
This is the first hypermarket opened since the conception of Aeon Big Malaysia in October 2012 under the umbrella of Aeon Group.
He said initially, the company’s main focus was Johor, Penang and Selangor due to vast developments taking place in these places but now had shifted its strategy.
Oyama said competition in the retail sector in the three states was becoming more intense with too many players around, and the market was also too fragmented.
“Our strategy now is to be everywhere in the country to reach out to our customers instead of focusing only on certain areas which is not good for long-term growth,’’ he said.
Also present at the event were Aeon (M) Bhd chairman Datuk Abdullah Muhd Yusuf and the Kluang assistant district officer Ahmad Nazri Rebu.
The company took over operations from Magnificient Diagraph Sdn Bhd on Nov 1, 2012, including the management and operations of all 27 supermarkets and hypermarkets (formerly known as Carrefour).
Oyama said it had two options when opening the new outlets – spending RM80mil on the hypermarket construction or renting the building from a third party for RM20mil to RM30mil.
“We are looking at what is good for us from the economic perspective and whether the investment will bring good returns,’’ he said.
Oyama said with the hike in RON95 petroleum and diesel last week, most Malaysian consumers would shop for their groceries under one roof instead of going from place to place.
Credit: The Star