Watson Indonesia plans to open up to 20 new stores this year.
Duta Intidaya, the local Watson’s rights-holder since 2006, will use about 65 per cent of the US$6.49 million raised in its recent IPO to fund the new stores, with the balance of the cash going to repay bank debt.
While there are more than 100 Watson stores in Singapore and more than 400 in the Philippines, the brand is under-represented in Indonesia, where to date just 47 have opened.
Duta Intidaya says the new stores will open predominantly in shopping malls, with one high street store planned for tourist resort Bali. Three new stores have already started trading in Jakarta this year.
Hong Kong-based AS Watson is keen to see the brand catch up its rivals by store network numbers: Century has more than 200 stores and rival Hong Kong chain Guardian has more than 100.
“We are still small, so we need more funds to expand and the IPO is the most proper decision at this time. We want to build a stronger brand,” Duta Intidaya director Sukarnen Suwanto told a press conference.
Duta Intidaya plans to continue growing at a rate of 15 to 20 stores annually, and will launch online in 2017.