From Guarding a Stall in Petojo to Owning 23,000 Shops
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - The success story of Alfamart founder Djoko Susanto began with a simple life. Long before building a retail network that now has more than 23,000 outlets, he was a child helping his mother run a small grocery stall in the Petojo area of Jakarta.
The man originally named Kwok Kwie Fo grew up familiar with the world of trade from a young age. After a stint working at a radio assembly company, he decided to return to help the family business. That decision marked the start of a journey that would eventually make him one of Indonesia’s largest retail entrepreneurs.
From a stall called Toko Sumber Bahagia, Djoko learned to run a business from scratch. Serving customers, managing inventory, and minding the shop daily provided the foundational experience for building a business empire now spread across various regions.
There, he tended the shop selling various necessities such as peanuts, cooking oil, soap, and cigarettes. Over time, the business focused on selling cigarettes on a large scale, with Gudang Garam as its main partner.
Unexpectedly, cigarette sales yielded positive results. According to Sam Setyautama, by 1987 Djoko already owned 15 wholesale store networks and was named the largest seller of Gudang Garam cigarettes.
His success in selling cigarettes eventually attracted the attention of Putera Sampoerna, the boss of PT HM Sampoerna.
His meeting with Putera Sampoerna in late 1986 completely changed his fortunes. He was appointed sales director of PT Sampoerna, helping to elevate the company to the second-largest cigarette maker after Gudang Garam, as noted by Sam Setyautama in Tokoh-Tokoh Etnis Tionghoa Di Indonesia (2008).
His marketing prowess also led to him being trusted as a director of PT Panarmas, the distributor for Sampoerna cigarettes. In this role, Djoko helped market a new Sampoerna brand called Sampoerna A Mild in 1989, which later became one of the most popular cigarette brands in Indonesia. It was while marketing this new cigarette that Djoko founded PT Alfa Retailindo in 1989, after converting a Sampoerna warehouse on Jl. Lodan No. 80.
With capital of Rp 2 billion, the warehouse was transformed into Toko Gudang Rabat, with 40 percent of shares owned by Putera Sampoerna and the remainder by Kwok Kwie Fo, also known as Djoko Susanto.
Toko Gudang Rabat became the precursor to Alfa. Initially, it functioned as a distributor for the new Sampoerna cigarettes, but gradually evolved into a grocery store selling various daily necessities.
The business continued to grow and opened branches in various cities across Indonesia. By the 1990s, Gudang Rabat had 32 outlets and became a competitor to Indomaret, which was under the Salim Group.
Its name was later changed to Alfa Minimart under PT Sumber Alfaria Trijaya on 18 October 1999. Alfa Minimart sought to emulate Indomaret as a minimarket easily accessible to the public, with its first building located on Jl. Beringin Raya, Tangerang.
Alfa Minimart received a positive response from the public, and sales increased. Djoko soon experienced a windfall. Alfa went public on 18 January 2000, with an estimated market capitalisation of US$108.29 million.
On 1 January 2003, Alfa Minimart changed its name to Alfamart. Putera Sampoerna also injected capital, and Alfamart subsequently expanded rapidly. Today, the Alfamart group operates more than 23,000 stores, including outlets managed by subsidiaries such as Alfamidi and Lawson.