HERO Management Keeps Closing Giant Outlets While Boosting Expansion At IKEA

JAKARTA - A retail company, PT Hero Supermarket Tbk, is one of the companies that got hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the competition in the retail business is getting tough.

As a result, the company coded HERO shares on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) racked their brains for the sustainability of their business. Efficiently, by closing outlets is one of the company's plans.

The director of Hero Supermarket, Hadrianus Wahyu Trikusumo in disclosing information on the IDX website, quoted by VOI on Wednesday, February 10, said that his party had closed several outlets of the company's Giant supermarket for the past few times.

"This is part of the business transformation process to ensure the company can continue to compete effectively in the food retail business in Indonesia", he explained.

The food retail business, he said, had experienced increased competition recently and its current performance was severely affected by the pandemic. Various restrictions have affected store operations and customers have changed shopping behavior and product demand patterns.

The Large-Scale Social Restriction Policy (PSBB) and the Restrictions on Community Activities (PPKM) in Jakarta do limit the operational time of retailers and mall managers.

Hadrianus added that his party had taken steps to rearrange the store to ensure Giant was able to meet the customers' evolving preferences. According to him, this step means not only closing outlets but also rearranging and renovating, all of which lead to a more sustainable and stronger business going forward.

On the other hand, continued Hadrianus, HERO remains committed to being a market leader and developing long-term business in Indonesia. This, he continued, was not only done in the food retail business, but also in other business lines.

"As we strengthen the customer proposition in our food business, we continue to expand our other businesses; the Guardian health and beauty stores, and IKEA which are performing well", he explained.

HERO is indeed boosting the IKEA business. The furniture selling outlets only exist in two locations, namely in Alam Sutera, Tangerang, and Sentul City, Bogor.

HERO targets that IKEA outlets in Bandung and Jakarta Garden City are still scheduled to open in 2021. When the pandemic hit, HERO management acknowledged that the public interest in making transactions online when shopping at IKEA and Guardian was very strong.