All Giants Closed, Hero Wants To Focus On Expanding IKEA 5 Times And Build 100 Guardians

IKEA store in Alam Sutera. (Photo: Doc. Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - Retail company PT Hero Supermarket Tbk (HERO Group) today announced that it will focus its business on IKEA, Guardian, and Hero supermarket trademarks. These outlets are considered to have higher growth potential than Giant.

"Like other capable businesses, we are constantly adapting to changing market dynamics and customer trends, including the declining popularity of hypermarket formats in recent years in Indonesia; a trend that is also seen in global markets. We remain convinced that the homewares, health and beauty sectors, as well as daily necessities for the upper class have high growth potential", said President Director of PT Hero Supermarket Tbk, Patrik Lindvall, in a written statement, Tuesday, May 25.

"Within two years, we aim to quadruple the number of our IKEA stores by 2020, and open up to 100 new Guardian outlets by the end of 2022", he added.

As part of this new focus, PT Hero Supermarket Tbk will transform up to five Giant outlets into IKEA, which is expected to add accessibility for customers. Other Giant outlets will be heavily closed by the end of July 2021, although negotiations regarding the potential transfer of ownership of a number of Giant outlets to third parties are still ongoing.

PT Hero Supermarket Tbk is also considering turning a number of Giant outlets into Hero Supermarket outlets.

"We are very grateful to our employees, our customers, and our business partners who have supported Giant's business so far. We will ensure that the communication process with all of our employees affected by this change will take place with empathy and respect", Patrick said.

"Big decisions like this are not easy, but we believe this decision needs to be taken for the long-term interests of PT Hero Supermarket Tbk and our employees under the auspices of the company", he explained.