AllHome continues store network expansion despite COVID-19 challenges

Villar-led home improvements retailer AllHome Corp. is optimistic on its store network expansion strategy, banking on the further reopening of the economy stalled by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Tuesday, AllHome said it is eyeing to end 2020 with 49 stores from the current 47.

“We are optimistic in the performance of our provincial stores especially with our most recent opening in Santiago City, Isabela. For the rest of 2020, we have identified at least two more stores to open, ending 2020 with 49 stores, at the least,” AllHome president Benjamarie Therese Serrano said.

“We have a solid pipeline of new stores around the country and with the help of our affiliates under the Villar Group, we foresee that we can fast-track the completion of these new stores in 2020,” Serrano said.

The AllHome chief said the company has adjusted the stores opening schedules given the construction delays and economic impact of the pandemic.

“Initially, we planned to delay new store openings to 2021 but with the trend we are seeing, we have decided to open at least four new stores this 2020,” she said.

AllHome’s optimism stems from its performance in the first and second quarter of the year. In the January to March period, the company saw a 30% net income growth to P270.22 million.

In the second quarter, the peak of lockdowns, AllHome only saw a measly 4% drop in sales year-on-year “despite the temporary closure of stores during the enhanced community quarantine in the second quarter and the subsequent general community quarantine.”

“These new AllHome stores will be built closer to residential communities as more and more consumers deem it a priority to lessen movement and shop closer to home. AllHome stores offer ample space for shoppers to maintain the necessary physical distancing. Being a one-stop shop, consumers no longer need to transfer to another store to complete their home and building shopping,” AllHome chairman Manny Villar Jr. said.

To date, AllHome has 37 stores in Mega Manila, five in Luzon outside of Mega Manila and five in Visayas and Mindanao. --KBK, GMA News