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onvenience store chain Ministop has officially opened its first outlet in Bintaro, south of Jakarta, following in the footsteps of three other Japanese C-store operators that previously launched operations in Indonesia.

Ministop plans to open 10 more outlets in the country this year in cooperation with its Indonesian franchise holder, PT Bahagia Niaga Lestari, a subsidiary of publicly listed PT Supra Boga Lestari (RANC), which operates the Ranch Market and Farmers Market supermarkets in Indonesia.

RANC'€™s president director, Nugroho Setiadharma, said on Thursday that the first Ministop outlet, which was officially opened on Wednesday, would use the retail concept of Ministop'€™s operations in Japan.

'€œOur concept is to serve fresh food,'€ he said, adding that the atmosphere in a Ministop convenience store was similar to that of a café.

He said that about 70 percent of the funds to finance the expansion of Ministop outlets in Indonesia would come from the company'€™s own funds and the rest by loans from CIMB Niaga.

According to Nugroho, the investment for one store reached between Rp 1.5 billion (US$1.52 million) and Rp 2 billion.

In May this year, RANC acquired PT Bahagia Niaga Lestari, the exclusive franchise holder for Ministop. RANC owns 28,000 shares or 70 percent of the company, having paid Rp 1 million per share. Ministop belongs to Ministop Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Japan'€™s AEON group that operates more than 15,000 retail stores worldwide.

Commenting on the growing competition in convenience store business in Indonesia, Nugroho said that the country, with its huge population, needed more convenience stores.

RANC also plans to open five more supermarkets in 2013, comprising three Farmers Market outlets and two Ranch Market outlets said Nugroho, adding that one of the three Farmers Market outlets recently opened in Bogor. The other two would be opened in Bekasi. He also said that one of the two Ranch Market outlets would be opened in the Lotte Shopping Avenue in Kuningan, South Jakarta, later this month and the other in Pantai Indah Kapuk, North Jakarta.

The company is using proceeds from its initial public offering (IPO) in May for the supermarket expansion, which raised about Rp 149.8 billion.

RANC currently operates nine Ranch Market outlets and eight Farmers Market outlets.

RANC'€™s income increased by 21 percent to Rp 1.07 trillion in 2012, thanks to the increase in the supermarket outlets. Ranch Market contributed 60 percent to the income total, while Farmers Market contributed 40 percent. The company enjoyed profits of Rp 36.5 billion in 2012, a 66.6 percent increase from the previous year. Nugroho said that RANC aimed to further increase its income growth by 30 percent this year. (nai)