The CEO Magazine Asia — January 2018

With appliances, tools and materials
for gardening, plumbing, repairing and
constructing anything around the home,
the initial CW Home Depot store offered
unrivalled convenience, making it easy for
shoppers to make intelligent purchasing
decisions by being able to compare different
varieties and brands in the one store.
Consolidating a number of dispersed specialist
stores into a single shopping mall-style set-up
has also allowed shoppers to avoid traffic
congestion, which has worsened significantly
in Indonesia of late.
A joint venture between Cebu Oversea
Hardware Company Co. Inc. (COH)
and West Point Industrial Sales Co. Inc.,
CW Home Depot had a considerable
wealth of industry knowledge that it could
draw from. COH has been servicing the
construction industry for more than 50 years
and is a major supplier of hardware and
finishing materials. West Point, meanwhile,
specialises in importing and wholesaling
construction materials.

Ferdinand himself was already established

in the hardware supply business and says

the new store drew on experience and

connections he had built up in previous

retail ventures. “We just expanded to the

platform of a modern retail big-box approach.

We made it a lot better in terms of

convenience for the customers.”

Still, Ferdinand says, introducing

customers and suppliers alike to the new

concept presented its challenges. Consumers

were initially sceptical, believing the modern,

air-conditioned CW Home Depot store

must be more expensive. “People thought:

‘Why should I go there if I can buy from

my regular suppliers at a cheaper price?’ ”

he recalls. “That was their impression. That

was the big challenge at the front end.”

Ferdinand says that there were also

obstacles to overcome at the back end.

“A lot of the suppliers had concerns about

supplying to us, because they had other

supply commitments and were worried they

might offend their regular B2B customers.”

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INNOVATE | Interview