Carbon trader finds success in borrowed warehouse idea

It started as a borrowed concept when Robert Go went to the United States and saw how warehouse store concepts like Wallmart were a hit there.

“He used to help my grandpa in his store in Carbon – Prince Marketing – that’s into wholesale of plastics like kitchenwares, housewares all over Visayas and Mindanao,” said Rhea Go, now chief operations officer of Prince Warehouse Club Inc.

Go said her father, Robert, adopted the warehouse concept and opened the first warehouse outlet in 1990 at the North Reclamation Area.

It was just a small outlet then with just one POS (point of sales) system for their cashiering and a handful of support crew.

“My dad decided to carry the name Prince Warehouse Club after our grandpa’s Prince Marketing,” she said.

The outlet then started to sell in retail  what they sell in their wholesale store like kitchenware and houseware.

“The concept worked and people started to see our store as the place where they can buy the cheapest goods,” she said.

Go said that her father also did everyday promos in the store to keep the customers excited.

From only about over a thousand square meter area store, they expanded it to the present floor area of 3,000 square meters.

“My dad also started adding more products to sell like the grocery items, furniture, appliances and dry goods like for fashion and apparel and toys,” she said.

They later expanded to Mandaue along A.C. Cortes street which is now managed by her uncle Nelson Go.

“My grandpa decided to have my dad and my uncle manage the two stores separately because they can save time better that way. Before, my dad used to handle the general merchandising while my uncle took care of the supermarket side,” she said.

Go said that after managing the two existing outlets, Robert then went on to open the Minglanilla branch in 1998.

“Danao was opened in 2000 and Prince Baybay was opened in November last year.”

Prince City Hall Department Store and Supermarket is their latest store which they opened last Friday and marked the start of the company’s rebranding.

“My uncle also opened three more branches under his management which includes Bogo, Toledo and Pardo, Cebu City,” Go said.

At present, the Prince Warehouse retail group has at least 500 employees and will be aggressively expanding in Visayas area.

“We feel that it’s time for us to expand not only within Cebu but to also look at other markets outside of Cebu where there are still so many untapped markets,” she said.

Go said that with the same product proposition, their concept will still work in provinces outside of Cebu and also help improve competition in every area where they open.

“Our first outlet outside of Cebu is in Baybay City in Leyte and after less than a year, we are already seeing a good performance in that outlet,” she said.

Go said that within 2011, the firm’s target would be to end the year with seven outlets and add two more in 2012.

“Most of these expansions will be outside of Cebu,” Go said.

Their existing branches in Cebu is also undergoing renovations and upgrading to compete in the local scene which has now become more competitive with the entrance of many other retailers from other areas like Manila.

“We think that the rebranding, rennovation and upgrading as well as the aggressive expansions outside of Cebu will help us cement our brand in the retail industry,” Go said.