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T Kawan Lama Sejahtera, a local family-owned retail company, is continuing its diversification strategy amid turbulence in the retail industry by having the various brands in its portfolio reach out to a wider customer base.

Kawan Lama manages 13 brands offering products ranging from furniture, food and beverages to toys, bicycles and financial technology services. With many retail brands selling different kinds of products, the group aims to attract the low, middle-to upper-class market segments in Indonesia.

In June, the private company came up with a new brand called Selma, which sells home furnishing products, similar to its existing brand Informa, but targeting the middle-to low-end markets.

“Selma offers various products, similar to Informa, but with affordable prices. We have our first store at Pusat Grosir Cililitan [East Jakarta], but we aim to expand to other places soon,” said PT Kawan Lama Sejahtera marketing director Nana Puspa Dewi.

Opportunities to expand remain huge in the country due to an expanding middle class with rising disposable income and aspirations for an improved lifestyle. Kawan Lama Group has 500 outlets from all brands in 40 cities across Indonesia.

One of its notable brands is the publicly listed PT Ace Hardware Indonesia, a home-improvement and lifestyle retailer that was able to book significant growth in revenue and net profit in the first half of 2018.

The retail company posted a revenue of Rp 3.33 trillion (US$228.39 million) for the first six months of this year, or an increase of 22 percent compared to the same period in 2017.

In line with the jump in revenue, Ace Hardware’s net profit rose 30 percent to Rp 426 billion in the first half of 2018, year-on-year (yoy).

It looks as if Ace Hardware’s performance has not been affected by the rupiah’s depreciation, despite the fact that 80 percent of its products are imported.

“Our strategy was doing transactions with the assumption of a certain exchange rate, and also by ordering quantities that come at an agreed upon price in order to control the costs,” Nana said.

Ace Hardware, listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) under the ticker code ACES, saw its net profit boosted by the increase in sales in the home improvement segment.

Although the company saw significant growth in net income, it earlier said that it would not change its target this year of increasing revenue growth by 15 percent yoy.

Ace Hardware has 159 stores in 37 cities, including Ace Express, a new, smaller concept launched in May created in an attempt to accelerate expansion.

Apart from Selma, Informa and Ace Hardware, Kawan Lama Group’s other brands are: Toys Kingdom, Chatime (bubble tea), Dr. Kong (shoe accessories), Bike Colony, Pet Kingdom, Pendopo (Batik and Indonesian handicrafts), Cupbop (Korean food), Gindaco (Japanese Takoyaki), Ruparupa.com (online e-commerce platform) and Danakini (peer-to-peer lending application).

According to Janiwati Hartini, Living World shopping mall director, Kawan Lama Group is also keen on expanding its shopping mall business throughout Indonesia.

“We now have 16 Living World and Living Plaza shopping centers in Java, Makassar [South Sulawesi], as well as in Kalimantan,” she said.

Despite Kawan Lama Group’s diversified brand portfolio, it does not have any plans for its business units to go public so far, choosing instead to focus on maintaining a positive performance throughout the group.