MANILA – There will soon be a new player in the Filipino convenience market, which is currently dominated by the Ministop and 7-Eleven chains. Philippines supermarket chain Puregold is partnering with Japan’s Lawson Asia Pacific to open a new chain of PG Lawson convenience stores this year.

The first store is scheduled to open next week in Sta. Ana, Manila, an urban residential area in the Philippine capital of Manila. The store will be the first of 50 planned openings this year, with the intent of building a network of 500 stores in the next five years.

Lawson will provide the expertise in convenience store operations and product development, while Puregold will take charge of procurement and promotions. The move into the convenience store format comes amid Puregold's consolidation of its supermarket business.

The convenience store channel has become the latest battlefront among retailers in the Philippines, where the channel has long been dominated by MiniStop and 7-Eleven for many years, only recently disrupted by the introduction of Japan-based FamilyMart.