Asian DIY retailers on expansion mode

Coming out of a difficult 2023, home improvement retailers around Southeast Asia have disclosed that they are in expansion mode over the next few years.  Thai retail chain Siam Global House, which missed its expansion target last year by one store, is determined to remain on track on its plan to reach 101 outlets by the end of next year. It announced  in an investor’s briefing that it plans to open in eight locations this year from last year’s total store count of 83 to end the year with 91 branches. In 2025, the company will be adding ten stores to hit its target of 101 outlets.

Global House was also set to open its second branch in Cambodia, where it has a subsidiary, last year. That branch got delayed and opened only last February.  

Meanwhile, the company’s affiliates around the region are also planning to expand in their home countries. Indonesia’s PT Caturkarda Depo Bangunan, in which Global House International (GBI) - a subsidiary of Global House and Siam Cement Group - holds a 22 per cent stake, revealed it was ramping up expansion plans over the next three years. The company closed 2023 with 13 branches, and plans to add four more this year, it disclosed in its analysts’ briefing. This is an acceleration of its store expansion - last year, it only opened one branch, focusing instead on land banking.

In 2025, Depo Bangunan plans to add one more store, and in 2026, it is scheduled to open three to five outlets, including one in the island resort of Bali. Depo Bangunan’s stores, called “supermarkets”, are between 7 000 and 9 000 m² in size.

In Laos, Souvanny Home Center, a 34-per cent affiliate of GBI, has restarted expansion plans by slating the opening of four new branches between 2024 and 2025 to bring its total store  count in the country to 11 by the end of the period. The last time Souvanny, whose stores range from 6 250 m² to 20 000 m² in size, opened a new branch was in 2021.

On its part, Myanmar’s Pro1 Global is set to open three branches this year, including one in Yangon, to bring its total store count to 15 by yearend. Pro1 has a small format store called Pro1 Plus, which is 1 500 m² in size, while the rest of its outlets measure between 2 500 m² and 14 000 m².

Last year was  challenging overall for home improvement retailers in southeast Asia as gains were constrained by high costs along with weak consumer sentiment and delayed government projects. Home improvement retailers were mainly supported by new store openings, with comparative sales…