In 1948, Gondosasmito opened a 100-square-meter batik shop on Ahmad Yani Street 119, Bandung, with 8 employees under the name Djockja. For 24 years, the batik shop survived without any progress. In 1972, the shop was handed over to Boedi Siswanto Basuki, who married Tina Handayani, Gondosasmito’s daughter (rumor has it that after marrying Tina, Boedi actually planned to work in Jakarta, but because Tina wanted to go with him, they chose to stay in Bandung and continue the batik shop). Besides transforming the shop into a one-stop shop, Boedi also changed the name of the shop to Yogya.
In 1978, Boedi bought a 1,000-square-meter plot of land at Jl. Sunda No. 60, worth 100 million Rupiah, which would be used as a shop and a house (rumor has it that it was paid with 7 kilograms of gold). On October 28, 1982, Boedi opened the shop on Jl. Sunda, covering an area of 300 square meters, and employed 40 employees. Boedi’s ability to manage the shop very well may be due to his Bachelor’s degree in Economics from UNPAR Bandung.
By the end of 1990, big competitors like Matahari, Hero, and Gelael started opening branches in Bandung, so in June 1998, Boedi handed over the management of the company to professional management under the leadership of Siswanto Wibowo. However, until now, Yogya’s biggest competitor is not the big retailers, but the local retailer Borobudur Market, now known as Borma. The rumor is that the big retailers lost to Yogya because Yogya never did disappointing promotions like their competitors’ tactic of “out of stock”. However, Yogya faces tough competition from Borma, which, despite never advertising in mass media, attracts many customers by offering affordable products that are not available in Yogya.
Under professional management, Yogya became the Yogya Group under the name PT Akur Pratama. The store was divided into 3 based on their size:
- 8,000-15,000 m2: Pasaraya Yogya
- 4,000-5,000 m2: Toserba Yogya
- 600-1,500 m2: Toserba Griya
The headquarters were divided into 2: The first headquarters was located at Jl. Sunda No. 83, Bandung, serving as the HRD and Accounting office, also known as the Yogya Learning Center. The second headquarters was located at Jl. Soekarno Hatta No. 236, Bandung, serving as the central control office for branch activities, merchandising purchasing center, finance, and future development. By the end of 2011, Pasaraya Yogya, Toserba Yogya, and Toserba Griya had reached 52 branches.
YOMART RUMOR
Yogya realized that the convenience store market was huge, and they were far behind Alfamart, which was established in 1989, and Indomaret, which was established in 1988. On August 22, 2003, Yogya joined the market by opening Yomart on Ciwastra Street, Bandung.
Yomart initially had trouble adjusting to procurement and distribution because the management was used to handling around 10-12 thousand stock keeping units (SKU), while Yomart only had around 2-4 thousand SKU. But after overcoming those issues, Yomart, targeting middle to lower-class consumers, was able to generate an average daily revenue of 11 million Rupiah per store. The rumor is that the Break Even Point was reached in 2006.
Since 2006, Yomart has been offering 2 types of franchises: Yomart Minimarket and Yomart Express. Yomart Minimarket requires a minimum building area of 100m2 with a minimum store frontage of 8m2 (60m2 for the sales area, 30m2 for office, warehouse, and restroom), and a minimum power capacity of 10,600 watts with an investment of around Rp. 300 million. On the other hand, Yomart Express operates 24/7, is located in public service areas (hospitals, gas stations, terminals, stations), and requires a minimum area of 18m2 with an investment of around Rp. 150 million.
In addition, Yomart offers 2 forms of collaboration: Loka Usaha (rental) and Waralaba Swadana (franchise). In Loka Usaha, partners are charged a distribution fee of 2% of the net monthly sales for 7 years of collaboration, store necessities are provided by Yomart, and net profits are split equally with Yomart. On the other hand, in Waralaba Swadana, partners pay a franchise fee of Rp. 42 million plus VAT for 7 years, royalty fees of 0-3% of the net monthly sales, distribution fees of 2% of the net monthly sales, and administration fees of Rp. 500,000 per month. Partners are also responsible for providing the business location and funds for renovation, equipment, and store supplies. However, partners fully own the net profits. The rumor is that the average gross profit is 12.5% of the net sales, while the average net profit is 3-4% of the net sales, and the investment will be recovered by the 4th year of collaboration.
By the end of 2011, Yomart was still ahead of its foreign competitors, Circle K with 110 stores and 7-Eleven with 57 stores. However, Yomart, which had reached 287 stores by June 2011, still seemed far behind Alfamart, which had reached 5,670 stores by the end of 2011, and Indomaret, which had reached 6,003 stores.
