Jaya Grocer to open five more outlets in 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: Neighbourhood fresh grocer Jaya Grocer, which celebrates its 10th anniversity, plans to open five more outlets in the Klang Valley this year.

Its operations director Daniel Teng said on Thursday the outlets would be at Eco Ardence at Setia Alam in February; Kuala Lumpur Eco City (KLEC) at Bangsar in June; Empire City Damansara in July; Kiara 163 at Mont Kiara in September, and Kuala Lumpur East at Taman Melati in December.

Jaya Grocer has 22 outlets. The latest outlet opened at Sunway Iskandar Citrine Hub in Johor last week.

As part of its anniversary celebrations, Jaya Grocer is offering 10 items on special promotional prices each week since the start of the year.

During a briefing for the media at Starling Mall Jaya Grocer in Damansara Utama, he said the management team is led by retail veterans with a family heritage dating back to pre-Independence Malaya. 

“We are proud of our heritage and are yet humbled by the overwhelming support shown by our loyal customers through the decades,” Teng said.
 
On the opening of its Bangsar Market by Jaya Grocer, he said it would be one of the largest “urban fresh grocers” in the country. 

This would be located at the KLEC, a strategic and synergistic public-partnership between developer SP Setia Bhd and Kuala Lumpur City Hall.
 
“The concept of Bangsar Market by Jaya Grocer is to bring back the feeling of shopping in a fresh wet market which is clean and well laid out. We hope to meet the discerning demands of sophisticated modern day shoppers in the city,” Teng said.

Bangsar Market will occupy 54,000 sq ft or the entire second level of the mall.

On Jaya Grocer’s online delivery service, Teng said it would be gradually expanded to cover more areas in the Klang Valley, beginning with its Pearl Point Outlet in Jalan Klang Lama.
 
“Since we started at the end of 2016, our online segment has grown by 30%,” said Teng.

“It has certainly helped to meet a need among modern consumers with a hectic city lifestyle or busy mothers with young children who cannot spare time to shop in person.
 
“We provide same day delivery, with the quickest delivery time being within two hours. Furthermore, we only charge a token for the delivery service and prices remain the same as in-store, including promotional items,” he said.

Jaya Grocer plans to set up a new distribution centre in Puchong that will help improve the overall supply chain management, Teng said.

Jaya Grocer is operated by Trendcell Sdn Bhd, which is 45% owned by the Asean Industrial Growth Fund (AIGF). The other 55% being held by the founding Teng family which continues to manage the business. 

AIGF, a private equity fund, is 45% owned by CIMB Private Equity, 45% by Mitsubishi and 10% by the Development Bank of Japan.

Jaya Grocer started in 2007 with its first outlet in Jaya 33 in Petaling Jaya. Jaya Grocer was set up by the Teng family, who are the founding family of Giant Hypermarket and the TMC (Teng MiniMarket Centre) in Bangsar.

The family sold the Giant chain to Hong Kong-based Dairy Farm group in 1999 for an undisclosed sum. Meanwhile, TMC Store Bangsar has been wholly owned and operated by GCH Retail (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd since November 1980.