Robinsons Retail, one of the Philippines’ largest retailers, is optimistic that recovering domestic consumption will be a “boon” to its business, even as President Donald Trump’s return to the White House threatens to put a damper on growth.
“During the first term of Trump’s presidency, our business performed well, despite similar global challenges,” said Stanley Co, the new CEO of Robinsons Retail Holdings and the first from outside the founder’s family.
The Philippines has been one of Southeast Asia’s fastest growing economies, though inflation has recently proved to be a drag on growth. But cooling prices could help the country’s consumption-driven economy turn a corner. The International Monetary Fund forecasts the country’s economy could grow by 6.1% due to falling inflation and interest rates.
“Economic momentum should be a boon to our business,” Co said in a late January interview with Fortune. He adds that the Filipino retailer is looking for new opportunities “across market segments and channels.”
In particular, Robinsons is focusing on its supermarket business, particularly its discount and neighborhood store formats. “Proximity shopping is getting very popular, so the challenge to us now is how to take advantage of that new consumer behaviour,” Co said.
Co was optimistic that greater investment in local stores will spur the growth of “local economies,” such as local suppliers and producers.
How well is the Filipino economy doing?
The Philippines government said in January that GDP could expand by 6% this year driven by strong domestic consumption and investments.
Alex Holmes, regional director for Asia Pacific at the Economist Intelligence Unit also thinks growth will accelerate past 6% this year because of falling inflation and interest rates.
“Private consumption dominates the Philippines economy at around 70% of GDP, hence factors such as inflation and domestic interest rates are very important to overall growth outlook,” Holmes said.
Yet Filipino officials are also wary that new tariffs from the Trump administration could complicate matters.
“If [the Trump administration], pursues what it said it would do during the campaign, that would mean high tariffs everywhere—and that would reduce growth not just in the US in the longer term, but also globally because we are all part of the supply chain,” warned National Economic and Development Authority secretary Arsenio Balisacan in December, before Trump took office.
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Still, the Filipino government has expressed hope the country may evade Trump’s ire, due to its relatively smaller trade surplus with the U.S.
Another possible threat to Filipino growth is a lack of Chinese tourists, who are traveling overseas at lower numbers compared to the pre-pandemic period due to the sluggish Chinese economy. Manila and Beijing are also at odds over the South China Sea, due to competing territorial claims. The U.S. backs the Philippines’ claims to the region.
A different kind of outsider CEO
Robinsons Retail Holdings, ranked #105 on Fortune’s Southeast Asia 500, has over 2,400 Robinsons-branded stores that span DIY, supermarkets and retail across the Philippine archipelago.
Those stores added together have a gross floor area of about 1.53 million square meters. Added to that are another 2000 drug stores that Robinsons operates as franchises.
On Thursday, Robinsons Retail reported 199.2 billion Philippine pesos ($3.42 billion) in revenue for 2024, up 3.7% from a year ago. The conglomerate is also expecting to add between 130 to 170 stores this year.
Since its founding in 1980, the conglomerate has been run by the Gokongweis, one of the Philippines’ wealthiest families. John Gokongwei Jr., the patriarch, opened the company’s first department store.
His eldest child, Robina Gokongwei-Pe joined the business in 1984 after graduating university. Over that period, she helped to grow Robinsons from just a single department store to become one of the country’s largest multi-format retailers.
After serving as president and CEO of Robinsons Retail for almost seven years, Robina Gokongwei-Pe handed over the CEO role to Stanley Co in January. It’s the first time someone outside the family is taking over the chief executive role at the retail conglomerate (though Gokongwei-Pe now serves as the retailer’s chairperson).
Robinson’s new CEO is “quite shy,” Gokongwei-Pe said. “He prefers to be out of the spotlight, but that’s where he thrives—focusing on solving problems, thinking strategically, and delivering outcomes that matter,” she continues.
Co, 48, has worked at Robinsons Retail for half his life, starting at the DIY business in 2003 and eventually working his way up the ranks to become managing director of the supermarket division in 2020. (The supermarket business makes up about 60% of Robinson’s total revenue).
Co admitted he needed a year to make the decision to take over the company, due to its long legacy in the Philippines. Still, he credits his time running Robinson’s supermarkets as good preparation for taking over the whole company.
It’s a “more complex” business than some of the company’s other ventures, he said. “Once you move to food, you’re suddenly very cautious about expiration dates, because that can completely wipe out your margins.”
“The same screwdriver from 50 years ago remains the same. In department stores, you can mark down fashion goods to recover some value. But you can’t sell something that’s already expired.”
