PT Courts Retail Indonesia, a subsidiary of Singaporean retailer Courts Asia Ltd., will open a new megastore in Bumi Serpong Damai (BSD) City, South Tangerang, Banten, in December as part of the company’s Indonesian expansion.
Courts Retail Indonesia CEO Roy Santoso said the 24,000-square-meter megastore was currently under construction on a 2.2-hectare plot of land in BSD, a growing township in the southwest of Jakarta with direct toll road access to South and West Jakarta.
He said the construction of the retailer’s second megastore was 80 percent complete. The store would sell at least 12,000 items from 200 local and international brands. All the electronics and home appliances were local products, while the furniture would comprise 70 percent local and 30 percent imported brands, mostly from Malaysia and China, Roy added.
“The store spaces will be grouped into four segments: ‘Play’ for electronics, ‘Live’ for home appliances and accessories, ‘Sleep’ for beds and ‘Relax’ for furniture,” he said in a press briefing last week.
Currently the company has three operating stores: one megastore in Kota Harapan Indah, Bekasi, West Java, and two smaller ones in Bekasi and Bogor, both West Java. It only began active operations in Indonesia in 2014.
Roy said that Courts Retail would open a maximum of seven stores in total within two years and 10 to 12 stores by 2019 in Greater Jakarta.
“In these kind of economic conditions, we have to have a sustainable development plan. To reach breakeven, we plan to open two to three smaller-sized stores within two years,” Roy said.
“Our initial plan had been to have one megastore in each western and eastern part of Greater Jakarta. The eastern part is Bekasi and the western part is BSD. We can still have vast area to build a megastore in BSD,” Roy said.
“Courts also targets various classes of income groups. In our stores we segment our products into good, better and best so that people can choose. And BSD is easily accessible for people with different income who live in Bintaro and Pondok Indah in South Jakarta and Karawaci in Tangerang, other satellite cities with high numbers of population,” Roy added.
The company has invested between US$3 million and $5 million for each megastore and $500,000 to $1 million for each smaller store of 2,000 sqm. In total, it has invested around $8 million so far, Roy said.
The megastore to be launched in BSD will absorb some 300 employees, alongside overall management personnel placed there, too, as the company plans to move its headquarters from South Jakarta to the new outlet by December.
Amid present competitors in the area, such as Kawan Lama Group’s Ace Hardware and Informa that serve similar product segments, Courts remains optimistic as it offers different product models and promotions.
Courts Retail promotion strategy includes a flexible credit scheme and cooperation with major credit card issuers, including exclusively with BRI.
“Other new things offered by Courts include a free delivery service, made-to-order furniture, installation, repair and cleansing services. Our e-shopping website will be ready by the end of this month,” Roy said.
