After consolidating its retail stores under SM Retail Inc, Philippine conglomerate SM Investments Corpplans to accelerate growth.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company says SM Retail will open 85 new stores in the second half of the year – two SM stores, seven Savemore stores, six Waltermart stores and 70 speciality stores.

The Savemore stores will open in Iloilo City, Caloocan City, Valenzuela, Laoag City, Bacolod City, Pangasinan and Nueva Ecija, joining 147 other outlets across the Philippines.

SM Investments says it plans to open 10 to 15 Savemore stores annually over the next few years. The brand is the group’s mid-format stand-alone supermarket built to service impulse markets and smaller communities.

SM Retail is also beefing up its hypermarket stores following several megastores opening in Metro Manila. It plans to build on its 45 SM Hypermarkets with at least three new additions annually over the next few years, subject to market conditions. It will launch the SM Hypermarkets at SM Center Tugeugarao, Tagaytay and Paliparan in Dasmariñas, Cavite.

SM Investments obtained SEC approval to consolidate its retail businesses in July. SM Retail was merged with other retail subsidiaries and affiliates such as Forsyth Equity Holdings, HFS Corp, Morrison Corp, San Mateo Bros and Tangiers Resources Corp.

Before the merger, SM Retail had 553 stores and 1.8 million sqm of gross floor area. It ran 53 SM department stores, 44 hypermarkets and 213 supermarkets, and had majority stakes in the Philippine outlets for Alfamart, Crate & Barrel, Forever 21 and other specialty and apparel retailers.