Mitra Adiperkasa expands Debenhams

JAKARTA: Debenhams department store begins to eye Surabaya and other capital provinces outside Jakarta for opening its new outlets.However, Mitra Adiperkasa (MAP) as the owner of Debenhams license in Indonesia, is still unsure about the year for opening the outlets due to it still waiting for the readiness of the shopping center that being targeted. "It's not compulsory for us to intensively open [department store] each year in large number because we also consider the readiness of the mall. It seems no opening for next year because there is still no shopping center yet. Probabyl in 2012 at the fastest," said Corporate Secretary MAP Fetty Kwartati today.Fetty is optimistic that Debenhams outlets in Surabaya may be opened in 2012 with hope upon the opening of new shopping center in the city.Meanwhile, in Jakarta, MAP is also optimistic with the opening of new outlets next year considering the development plans of Ciputra World and Kuningan City.He admitted that MAP usually takes seven months until one year before opening new outlets. The company tends to be careful in selecting the location of stores which considered very important toward the sales and mall positioning. "Retail is about selecting the location," he said.According to Fetty, each of Debenhams departement store has a slightly different class because it adapted to its location. She gave an example, Debenhams Senayan City and Debenhams Supermall Karawaci, which has different collections although in same brands.Therefore, if the Debenhams in Surabaya is opened, its collections will adjust with the character of Surabaya's people . Although MAP still have no description about the new outlets but the extent of Debenhams stores are usually in the range of 10,000 to 15,000 m2. (t06/wiw)