The beauty and food retail divisions of the SM Group plan to expand this year, as officials expect to hit targets for 2009 and 2010.

On the sidelines of Friday’s “Beauty by SM” launch in Makati City, Teresita Sy-Coson, vice chairwoman of SM Investments Corp. said the conglomerate would likely hit the targets they projected last year.

 “Last year was not bad, I don’t hear complaints . . . This year [will also be] not bad,” she said. “Unless there is a global problem, we will be constantly churning along . . . This is going to be a normal year,” she added.

Robert Sun, Watsons Personal Care Stores Philippines Inc. chief operating officer, told reporters that they will convert between six and 10 existing beauty sections of SM department stores to Beauty by SM outlets. He said they would spend about P50 million for these renovations.

Beauty by SM targets a higher-level clientele than Watsons, which services the mass market, Sun said, adding that the former would carry higher-priced brands.

Watsons itself plans this year to open about 40 additional stores at a cost of P80 million. It currently has about 200 outlets nationwide.

Watsons Philippines is A member of the global beauty and health retail chain A.S. Watson Group. SM Prime Holdings Inc. (SMPH) is its local partner.

Sun said Watsons targets an 8-percent growth in revenues this year, after growing about 7 percent last year.

About 65 percent of Watsons’ sales are in the beauty segment, but their healthcare business is growing faster, Sun said.

He said Filipinos continue to patronize beauty products even amid hard times, although many have been purchasing less-expensive brands and buying goods in smaller packages.

During the same event, Robert Kwee, executive vice president of SM Hypermarket also told reporters that the SM’s Food Retail Group would open 20 stores this year. The food group includes SM Hypermarkets, SM SaveMore, SM Supermarkets and Makro.

Kwee said they would spend between P1 billion and P2 billion to put up these new outlets. “We want to be closer to shoppers. Now, consumers who want to buy grocery want to do it just around the corner,” he said.

Kwee said the food retail group currently has 83 stores.

He said the group would continue to convert the 12 remaining Makro stores into Hypermarkets.

SM Investments Corp. (SMIC), the holding company of the Sy family, has a 60-percent stake in wholesaler Pilipinas Makro Inc., which had three outlets—in Makati City, Mandaluyong City and Novaliches, Quezon City—converted into SM Hypermarkets last year.

Makro still has stores in Manila, Las Piñas City, Parañaque City, Quezon City, Batangas, Cavite, Pampanga, Rizal, Cebu, Iloilo, Davao and Cagayan de Oro City.

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