"Three Sixty" to invest P40M to open more outlets in Cebu

CEBU, Philippines - Health and wellness chain Three Sixty Pharmacy is going to invest at least P40 million this year, for the opening of another 10 outlets in Cebu and other parts of the Visayas.

The Three Sixty Pharmacy brand, operated by Cebuano company Pri Solutions Corporation, is now one of the fastest growing drugstore, and health and wellness chain in the Philippines, as it opened 41 branches in one year.

In an interview yesterday with the company’s business development manager Carlo Yap, he said that the growing interest of consumers for health and wellness products, and the consciousness of the market on health fueled the chain’s fast growth although the industry is already dominated by existing brands, such as Rose Pharmacy, Mercury Drug, Watsons, among others.

He said the company invests at least P3 million to P4 million in opening a branch, including already the inventories and infrastructure. For the rest of the year, Three Sixty Pharmacy will be present in Tagbilaran, Bohol, Tacloban, and Dumaguete in January of 2012.

The Yap family, whose core business is into food manufacturing (Pri Food Corporation), logistics (Draniz Distribution), and furniture manufacturing (Antonio Bryan Development Corporation), has expressed bullishness in the health and wellness retail market, as it targets to open 360 outlets in the next nine years nationwide.

After penetrating the Visayas, and Mindanao, Three Sixty Pharmacy also plans to enter the Luzon market in the next two years.

Although, strategic location is not the brand’s lone edge over the competition, he said what makes Three Sixty Pharmacy ahead in the industry, is its commitment to make “service” as its core competence.

Established in May 2010, opening simultaneously 10 branches at one time, Yap said the brand is envisioned to become the leading drugstore/health and wellness chain the Philippines in the next nine years.

In fact, the company is planning to introduce another brand of “convenience store” chain next year, but no official name has been approved yet.

While the concept is not new, Yap said the growing number of customers across market segment demanding for health and wellness products, including medicines, give the company more confidence to invest more, and expand.

Pri Solutions Corporation is led by brothers Antonio S. Yap (president) and Ramon S. Yap (director). The brothers owned a wholesale store in Tabo-an area in Cebu in the 1970s. This time, they are pursuing their interest in retail through the introduction of the Three Sixty Pharmacy brand, and other retail chain concepts in the future. - THE FREEMAN