lucky sprite Aussie lifestyle retailer picks the Philippines as gateway to Asia

LOOK WHO’S SHOPPING Fil-Aussie actress Anne Curtis recently spent two hours shopping for cookware at Anko. —ANKO PHILIPPINES WEBSITE

When the COVID-19 pandemic forced consumers to stay at home, they embarked on a similar project to adapt to what was known as the “new normal.”

As they could not spend their days outside, Filipinos became increasingly interested in home makeovers, with hundreds of thousands joining Facebook groups such as “Home Buddies” to share ideas and products.

Four years later, the community now has over 3.2 million members, proving that home improvement has become nearly a universal project.

As a response to this growing interest, the local home decor space has welcomed a new player that could further diversify the choices of consumers.

Last month, global lifestyle brand Kmart Australia opened Asia’s first Anko store at the Ayala-owned Glorietta 2 in Makati City. The brand proposition is four-pronged: high quality, great design, affordability and ethical sourcing.

It now stands to compete with local brands, as well as Sweden’s Ikea and Japan’s Nitori and Muji, in the increasingly competitive home decor space.

“Anko Global is Australia’s super loved home and lifestyle store—with the goal of ‘making every day better’ through well-designed, thoughtful, quality products at amazing value,” Mariana Zobel de Ayala, Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) leasing and hospitality head, says in a LinkedIn post.

While the home improvement space has been experiencing a global slowdown as people return to their offices, Anko is still keen on capturing the Filipino market through its more affordable selections.

Anko, which is also present in Canada and New Zealand, among others, currently offers home, beauty, nursery and pet products, as well as arts and crafts, at “irresistibly low” prices.

Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Hae Kyong Yu, who was present during the grand opening, lauds the brand for its “absolutely top-quality products” at “a very, very low and affordable price.”

According to its website, Anko, led by Australian Securities Exchange-listed Wesfarmers Ltd., sells over 1 billion products each year, mainly in Australia and New Zealand.

“At Anko, we design our own products and deal directly with our manufacturing partners,” the company says. “Due to our scale, ability to work with manufacturers directly and keeping our costs low, we ensure the best possible prices are passed on to our customers.”

This comes as ALI pursues a P13-billion plan to renovate and reinvent four major malls—TriNoma in Quezon City, Glorietta and Greenbelt in Makati, and Ayala Center in Cebu—by bringing in new brands, among other strategies. Greenbelt 1, one of its oldest malls, was shuttered on April 1 to start renovation work.

In the first nine months of the year, recovering demand and consumer activity pulled up the earnings of ALI by 15 percent to P21.2 billion.

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Shopping center revenues inched up by 7 percent to P16.7 billion. INQlucky sprite

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