Don Quijote eyes massive US rollout

Hard on the heels of a successful expansion in Singapore and launching in Hong Kong and Thailand, Japanese variety retailer Don Quijote is now eyeing continental USA.

Pan Pacific International Holdings, the company’s parent, already has Marukai supermarkets trading in the US and three Don Quijote stores in Hawaii.

But rather than replicate its Asian concept, Pan Pacific will create a new format tailored to the US but with “Don Quijote-ism at the core,” CEO Koji Ohara told the publication.

The expansion will be led by Ohara who will resign from his current role and relocate to the US to build the business there, with a target of expanding its network from 38 currently to 100.

Sean Butler, MD at supply-chain consulting firm LIDD, told Grocery Dive that he expects Don Quijote will stick to its three pillars – convenience, discount, and amusement – when it launches in the US.

In the US, Don Quijote has an opportunity to reach an audience hungry for low-price groceries and consumer goods, he said.

“The company is betting that it can execute experiential retail better than the status quo – and pick up a nice chunk of the world’s largest consumer economy in the process.”