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)