No price war among retail outlet businesses, AP3I says

No price war among retail outlet businesses, AP3I says

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Retailers Association (AP3I) is
stating that there is no price war among retail outlet businesses
in the Greater Jakarta area.

"There is no price war," said J.A. Sinungan, the chairman of
AP3I, in a press conference on Wednesday.

But Sinungan admitted that some retailers offered unexpected
discount rates, such as a fashion store at the Ratu Plaza
shopping center in Central Jakarta, which extended a 90 percent
discount for silk dresses.

"It's probably a clearance sale. I am absolutely sure that it
is not a price war," he said, adding that around 200 modern
department stores are now operating in the Greater Jakarta area,
which is popularly known as Jabotabek (Jakarta, Bogor, Tangerang
and Bekasi).

Meanwhile PT Procon Indah, a leading property consultant, has
said in its recent six-monthly research publication, entitled
Jakarta: Property Market Outlook, that the average occupancy of
retail centers increased slightly from 87.3 percent in December
1993 to 87.6 percent in June 1994.

Procon Indah, an affiliate of a London-based property
consultant, the Jones Lang Wootton, indicated that the retail
market is still growing.

Some developers are now constructing mega-shopping centers in
the Jabotabek area, including a 80,000 square-meter supermall at
Lippo Village in Tangerang, a 100,000 square-meter Pluit Mall in
North Jakarta and a 92,000 square-meter Taman Anggrek Mall in
West Jakarta.

In response to the interest of some foreign retailers in
cooperating with local partners, Sinungan said that AP3I were
opposed to the privately run department stores or supermarkets
because they could endanger the existence of local retailers.

"Anyway, if the foreign retailers come here, is it still
consistent with our nationalism?" said Suryadharma, secretary
general of AP3I.

The Japanese department stores of Sogo and Yaohan have opened
branches in the city. "But they are not necessarily foreign on
the grounds that their owners here are Indonesian people,"
Sinungan said.

Procon Indah reported that Seibu from Japan and K-Mart from
the United States are trying to move into Jakarta.

Asked whether big retail businesses can co-exist with
traditional markets, Sinungan said that street vendors and other
small retail enterprises need not worry about the emergence of
big retailers.

"We have our own markets. The big will fight against the big.
And the small will fight against the small," he said, referring
to recent protest by street vendors against the expansion of a
department store in South Jakarta.

AP3I gave the press meeting in a run-up to its congress which
will be held on Sep. 13 at Shangri-la Hotel, Central Jakarta,
where 300 participants are expected to participate. (09)