Australasian services retailer Mister Minit is to expand its retail presence in SE Asia after stellar growth in Malaysia and Singapore.
The company says it is experiencing an increasing appetite for its personal services among time-poor shoppers.
For the third consecutive year, the company has experienced strong comparable growth in Singapore and Malaysia with current running rates at 30 to 40 per cent, and is now on the verge of a major expansion program in South East Asia.
“We are committing significant funding over the next three years initially in Singapore and Malaysia, with interest in also expanding into other Asian markets in the medium term,” said Mark Rusbatch, CEO of Mister Minit.
There are currently 12 Mister Minit Singapore retail stores and seven in Malaysia. The company is developing a pipeline of new shop openings for both countries and working with key landlords on identifying prime locations in shopping centres.
“One of the fastest growing trends right now is ‘do it for me’ and Mister Minit is well placed to make time poor customer’s lives that bit easier – from shoe repairs to other household and personal services including key duplication, engraving and watch servicing,” said Rusbatch.
The company is synonymous with ‘fixing people’s problems’ in Australia and New Zealand, where it is the clear market leader, and has shown year on year comparable sales and total growth for the past 15 years.
“Our strategy in Australia and New Zealand has been to secure prominent locations in high foot traffic areas that provide ready access to those customers who are time poor and need to utilise our array of services as part of their everyday shopping needs including visiting the supermarket,” said Rusbatch.
Mister Minit will adopt a similar strategy in Southeast Asia, where it sees a real opportunity to accelerate its growth rates in the medium and long term.
“Mister Minit’s heritage in this region has been around high quality shoe services and augmenting these with our full array of services, which include key duplication, personalisation through engraving, and watch servicing including band and battery replacement.”
“As an international brand we deliver a consistent level of quality and services from our shop fit outs to our high service standards. We recognise the importance of people – from securing the best people to retaining them. We also invest in a significant level of training, upskilling our team in the latest technology and expertise. We know the quality of our people defines our brand.”
The company’s franchise model is also a strength of the business, and has so far been implemented across five of the Singapore stores with more anticipated to follow.
“Franchising is our preferred business model as it delivers a strong offer – combining local ownership with an International brand profile,” said Rusbatch.
Mister Minit will next year celebrate its 60th Anniversary, following its establishment in 1957 in Europe. In a further sign of the importance of the South East Asia region to the company, it will celebrate the milestone locally. Mister Minit will host its Annual Franchisees Conference in Singapore in 2017, attended by franchisees and employees from across Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia.
