Japan's Don Quijote: to hit 1 trillion yen sales target year early

[TOKYO] Japanese discount retailer Don Quijote Holdings Co Ltd expects to hit its 1 trillion yen (S$12.22 billion) sales target in the next financial year, a year earlier than forecast, a senior executive said on Monday.

"We have progressed to where we can pull (the target) forward," Mitsuo Takahashi, Don Quijote's chief financial officer, said in a Reuters interview, adding that the discounter expects to have about 470 stores worldwide in the financial year ending June 2019, up from 416 now.

Reaching 1 trillion yen in sales would propel Donki, as it popularly known, into the ranks of Japan's top retailers, such as Uniqlo parent Fast Retailing Co Ltd, convenience store operator Seven & i Holdings Co Ltd and big-box electronics retailer Yamada Denki Co Ltd.

The company, Japan's largest discounter, is known for stocking its stores floor-to-ceiling with an eclectic mix of products, from leopard-print rugs to designer goods, and has proved popular among Japanese shoppers and the growing numbers of tourists visiting Japan.

Donki has upgraded its outlook for the financial year ending this month three times and estimates a 13 percent increase in sales to 935 billion yen over the last 12 months. Such as result would deliver its 29th year of unbroken sales growth.

The discounter, which calls itself a "dirt cheap jungle," is expanding its chaotic retail style overseas. It currently has two "Don Don Donki" stores in Singapore, with another to open in Bangkok by the end of the year.

Donki is looking to open one to two stores in Southeast Asian annually, Takahashi said, adding that the number of Singapore outlets could reach 10 or more.

The discounter also owns stores in Hawaii and California.

REUTERS