Zobel-led Ayala Corporation, the country’s oldest conglomerate, is seeking to expand its consumer retail business after the initial success of its investment in Australian home and lifestyle brand Anko.

“We entered the retail space by partnering with Kmart of Australia in setting up the country's first Anko store. Initial results have been quite strong, and more stores will follow. We continue to look for ways of doing more in the consumer space,” said Ayala President and CEO Cezar Consing.

He noted that, “retail is one of the fastest-growing segments of the market, but we happen not to be directly exposed. So Anko, for example, it's an experiment. It so happens that the initial results look quite exciting, so we want to build on that. And who knows where this will lead?

“We have the good fortune of having Ayala Malls, for example. We have the good fortune of having GCash. We have the good fortune of having BPI. All of them can help an anchor group. So why wouldn't we use the assets we already have to help a new company grow, especially in a space that can be as large and as valuable as retail.”

Ayala Chief Finance Officer Alberto M. de Larrazabal said they are opening four more Anko stores so they will have five stores by the end of 2025 to start the brand on a path to grow to its full potential.

“We recognize that the consumer segment is the largest industry in the country that Ayala does not currently directly participate in, and that there is significant opportunity to disrupt and enhance the current industry landscape, and also that consumer businesses are highly complementary to our current portfolio, particularly Ayala Land's malls and Mynt's GCash.

“Filipinos often pay high prices for very low-quality goods, so we believe that by capitalizing on our current ecosystem, we can change the local retail and consumer landscape and bring new and better value concepts to Filipino consumers,” he added.

Ayala Managing Director and Group Head of Corporate Strategy and Business Development Mark Robert H. Uy said “we continue to look out for good concepts to bring into the Philippines.”

“I think, at the end of the day, what's really driving this is twofold. On one hand, our Ayala Malls team has announced a very ambitious plan to modernize and uplift our mall portfolio, as well as potentially grow our mall portfolio.This strategy really goes hand-in-hand with that.

“Secondly, when we look at the market, we think that... Filipinos tend to pay more for the same goods that are available abroad. Sometimes we pay more for products that are not even as good as products that are available abroad.”

In the case of Anko, Uy said “we saw a concept that was quite game-changing in Australia, really making really good quality, well-designed products, selling it at a price point that is affordable even to the middle-class or even the lower-class Filipinos... all the products we sell there, we're selling them at the same price as what they're selling in Australia.

“So we thought it was quite game-changing and it's something that Filipinos deserve. So we look out for those types of concepts where we can bring in great quality, great value, give customers more choices.”

Uy said Ayala is targeting to have five Anko stores by the end of the yearby opening two in the next couple of months and two more later in 2025 as the conglomerate ramps up the Australian store’s network in the country and let it grow to its full potential.

Ayala is also in continuous talk with other brands that want to parter with the group, according to Uy.

Ayala Land Managing Director for Leasing and Hospitality Mariana Zobel de Ayala said the group is looking at concepts “that work for the Ayala malls consumers.”

“I think it boils down to product market fit. I think that's why Anko was so exciting for us because we felt there was a gap for market in terms of value and quality.

“I'd love for those concepts to grow large enough that they could be all across the country. But surely, we're glad to give Ayala mall, a first mover advantage to be able to draw the crowd as it has set for Anko,” Zobel added.