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No Brand fails to provide ‘steady and sustainable income’ to the Gokongwei Group
MANILA, Philippines – Filipinos love K-dramas and K-pop, but probably not enough Korean food lovers.
At least, it’s not enough to develop a specialty South Korean No Brand store in the Philippines.
Gokongwei Group’s Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. (RRHI) announced on Wednesday, March 25, the closure of all 11 independent No Brand stores in the Philippines by the end of June 2026.
“This development is in line with the Company’s overall strategy and reflects its ongoing efforts to simplify its portfolio and focus on retail models that deliver strong and sustainable profitability,” said RRHI, the second largest retail conglomerate in the Philippines.
Robinsons Retail launched Hakuna Chapa in the Philippines in 2019 through a major business deal with the owner of No Brand Emart of South Korea.
Robinsons Retail opened the first No Brand store at Robinsons Galleria in Quezon City on November 22, 2019 and expanded to other Robinsons Malls and malls of the Ayala Group, Filinvest Malls of the Gotianun family, and Shangri-La Plaza of the Kuok Group.
As of December 2025, there were no Brand stores in the following supermarkets:
- Robinsons Galleria
- Robinsons Antipolo
- Robinsons Magnolia
- Robinsons Metro East
- Robinsons Imus
- Robinsons Ermita
- Trinity
- UP Town Centre
- Shangri-La Plaza
- Ayala Manila Bay
- Ayala Center Cebu
- Circuit Makati
- Festival Mall
- Glorietta 4
- Alabang Town Center
In addition to ramyeon or instant noodles, No Brand offers a variety of No Brand snacks (chips, biscuits, cookies, nuts, etc.), Lotte Luncheon Meat, Korean dumplings and frozen kimchi, Korean beverages (coffee, juice, etc.), Melona ice cream, among others. Select Brands products are also sold in other Robinsons Retail stores such as Shopwise.
“The decision reflects changing consumer preferences and the way customers choose to shop in our retail formats,” said RRHI president and CEO Stanley Co.
“Our focus remains on meeting the needs of customers by offering the right range in the most convenient formats. We thank Emart for the partnership over the past several years.”
RRHI has been holding regular No Brand “big sales” events offering deep discounts, but apparently these didn’t turn out well.
No Brand was founded in South Korea in 2015 and marketed as a “customer-oriented grocery store that prioritizes quality over branding and attractive packaging.”
In a stock market disclosure, Robinsons Retail said the closures would not affect its financial performance as No Brand accounts for just 0.2 per cent of its annual sales and “comprises a very small proportion of the Company’s total assets.”
By the end of 2025, Robinsons Retail had 2,700 company-owned stores, most of which were TGP branches with over 2,100. It also operated 157 Robinsons Supermarket, 159 Robinsons Easymart, 38 The Marketplace, 16 Shopwise, and 415 Uncle John’s convenience stores.
Despite the closure of No Brand specialty stores, there are still thousands of small Korean food stores across the country that sell frozen meat for popular Korean barbecue, Melona ice cream and other Korean products. – Rappler.com
