SM Retail, a unit of SM Investments Corporation, has ramped up the pilot testing of Alfamart stores with the opening of 8 branches in the first two months of the year for a total of 30 branches. According to SM Retail’s supermarket head Joey C. Mendoza, the SM-Alfamart joint-venture closed 2014 with 22 stores mindful of a hightened competition in the convenience store business. “It’s a model in progress,” said Mendoza, adding that the the pilot-test may have to reach 100 branches in order to determine the viability of the business. “In a convenience store, it takes a while before you hit critical mass to know if it’s worth or not,” he added. Alfamart is currently streamlining the logistics part of the business — how to supply the assorted goods, what’s inside a store, and if it’s priced and tuned to what the community needs. Mendoza said they are also watching closely how the Philippine convenience store landscape had been evolving the past several years. He noted that Puregold Price Club is also set to unveil its own network in joint venture with Japan’s Lawson. (JAL)