NCCC-affiliated brands have merged to form one, stronger company—the LTS Retail Specialist, Inc.
Top company officials announced this on Thursday saying all its brands including NCCC Supermarket, Choice Mart by NCCC, HB1 Pharmacy, Breadfactory, Citifoods and Munchies have merged into one.
NCCC Supermarket and Choice Mart by NCCC were previously under LTS Supermarkets, Inc. while HB1 Pharmacy was under LTS Community Stores, Inc. Breadfactory, Munchies and Citifoods, on the other hand, belonged to the LTS City Foods, Inc.
LTS Retail Specalist, Inc. consultant Bobby Y. Mabanta emphasized the advantage of the merger, “We get more leverage from our business partners for merchandising and marketing plus all the stores will benefit from the best practices of our operations. This way, we provide the best shopping experience for all our shoppers in all our stores.”
LTS Retail Specialist, Inc. Vice President Teresito N. Canda added that the merging will “kill” the competition between HB1+ stores and Choice Mart as well as operate in a unified and more efficient system.
The Davao City-based retail chain has a total of seven business units namely LTS Retail Specialist, Inc.; LTS Malls, Inc. which manages all the mall operations in Davao, Palawan, and Tagum; LTS Department Stores, Inc.; and LTS Hardwares, Inc.
Also under the NCCC Group of Companies are LTS City Foods, Inc. which operates the commissary; LTS Community Stores, Inc. that runs Printlife; and LTS Pinnacle Holdings, Inc. that provides the support services for the store operations with such departments as Finance, IT, and HR, among others.
Advocating Local Farmers
In support of the program of Department of Agriculture, LTS Retail Specialist, Inc. advocated buying direct from local farmers.
“We actually had a talk with Sec. Piñol of the Department of Agriculture when he was working on the idea of giving fruit farmers direct access to supermarkets. He did mention that DOA is working on a system with which the onion farmers of the country, especially those from Bongabon, Nueva Ecija, will be able to deliver their produce to these chain of supermarkets,” relays Tjader P. Regis, NCCC consultant.
In support of the said system, Canda said, “We already are sourcing fruits and vegetables from local farmers. We buy from them directly. We are committed to do this program for sustainable development. Our Merchandising Department – Fresh Category is still looking for more farmers so we can increase exposure oofour local farmers of our local farmers to more shoppers.
Regis further added that the NCCC Group of Companies is glad to be part of the advocacy and that giving chance to local farmers will definitely contribute an improvement on their farming practices, resulting to higher production levels and better quality crops while conserving the country’s environmental resources. In turn, the partnership will lead to secure supply of quality local produce fresh wherein all the shoppers will benefit.
Meanwhile, Regis said that the construction of NCCC Buhangin is still on track to its date of completion on 2018.
At present, the company has 14 NCCC Supermarkets and Choice Marts, while there are 148 smaller formats located in Mindanao and Palawan. With this number, NCCC Group of Companies is looking forward to establish 30 to 40 more branches all over Mindanao.
“We are a homegrown company, a family-operated company. That’s why we want to serve our fellow Davaoeños and Mindanaoans as much as possible,” said Lafayette Lim, CEO of NCCC Group of Companies.
