Ramayana looks to expansion

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Publicly-listed retailer PT Ramayana Lestari Sentosa said it would expand this year by building at least five new department stores in Sumatra and Kalimantan with a total investment of around Rp 300 billion (US$34 million).

Ramayana's head of corporate affairs, promotion and public relations Richard Santosa told The Jakarta Post on Thursday the new stores were aimed at helping the company reach this year's revenue target of Rp 3.6 trillion.

"We plan to expand this year by setting up more than five new stores in cities outside Java, such as Medan, Banjarmasin and Balikpapan," said Richard adding that the expansion program would start in June.

Ramayana is a giant, locally owned retailer, whose market focus is on the medium to low-income bracket families that account for 80 percent of the country's population.

The company's sales revenue last year soared by around 12.5 percent to Rp 3.2 trillion, up from Rp 2.8 trillion the previous year.

Ramayana sells some 40,000 product lines of which 72 percent consist of fashion items, 20 percent foodstuffs, and 8 percent toys, stationary and houseware.

It sources its products from 2,000 local suppliers, mainly small and medium-sized companies.