PT Sarinah (Persero) is an Indonesian retail company owned by PT Aviasi Pariwisata Indonesia (Persero) (InJourney), a

state-owned State ownership, also called government ownership and public ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, or enterprise by the state or a public body representing a community, as opposed to an individual or private party. Public ownershi ...

holding company. Its flagship store, Sarinah Building in M.H. Thamrin Street of

Central Jakarta Central Jakarta ( id, Jakarta Pusat) is one of the five administrative cities () which form the Special Capital Region of Jakarta. It had 902,973 inhabitants according to the 2010 censusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 1,056,896 at the 2 ...

, was the first skyscraper to be built in Jakarta as well as the first modern department store in the city. In addition to Thamrin, Sarinah also has a number of other outlets namely at Pejaten Village in

South Jakarta South Jakarta ( id, Jakarta Selatan; bew, Jakarte Beludik ), colloquially known as ''Jaksel'', is one of the five administrative cities which form the Special Capital Region of Jakarta, Indonesia. South Jakarta is not self-governed and does not ...

, Banyumanik (

Semarang Semarang ( jv, ꦏꦸꦛꦯꦼꦩꦫꦁ , Pegon: سماراڠ) is the capital and largest city of Central Java province in Indonesia. It was a major port during the Dutch colonial era, and is still an important regional center and port today. ...

) and

Malang Malang (; ) is a landlocked city in the Indonesian province of East Java. It has a history dating back to the age of Singhasari Kingdom. It is the second most populous city in the province, with a population of 820,043 at the 2010 Census and 8 ...

History

Sarinah was incorporated on 17 August 1962 as PT Department Store Indonesia "Sarinah". In the early 1960s, Indonesia was hit by very high inflation rates. President

Sukarno Sukarno). (; born Koesno Sosrodihardjo, ; 6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967. Sukarno was the leader of ...

believed that a department store would act as a price stabilizer to help keep prices under control, citing similar department stores in

Communist state A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Comin ...

s used as such price stabilizers (for example, the Soviet

GUM Gum may refer to: Types of gum * Adhesive * Bubble gum * Chewing gum * Gum (botany), sap or other resinous material associated with certain species of the plant kingdom ** Gum arabic, made from the sap of '' Acacia senegal'', an Old World tree ...

, the Czech Bílá labuť, and the Polish CDT). The first store in Jakarta was built by

Obayashi Corporation is one of five major Japanese construction companies along with Shimizu Corporation, Takenaka Corporation, Kajima Corporation, and Taisei Corporation. It is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and is one of the Nikkei 225 corporations. Its hea ...

using Japanese

war reparation War reparations are compensation payments made after a war by one side to the other. They are intended to cover damage or injury inflicted during a war. History Making one party pay a war indemnity is a common practice with a long history. ...

funds, and opened in August 1966. The project was conceived by President

, who named it Sarinah after his childhood nanny. In an effort to pursue its price stabilization agenda, state-owned Sarinah department store published weekly grocery price lists. Sukarno affirmed that ''"The Sarinah department store will become one of the important tools for the organization of Indonesian socialism..."'' and ''"if Sarinah sells a

kebaya A kebaya is an upper garment traditionally worn by women in Southeast Asia, notably in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Southern Thailand. Outside of Southeast Asia, it is worn by Javanese, Malays and Portuguese Eurasians in Austral ...

for 10

rupiah The rupiah (symbol: Rp; currency code: IDR) is the official currency of Indonesia. It is issued and controlled by Bank Indonesia. The name " rupiah" is derived from the Sanskrit word for silver, (). Sometimes, Indonesians also informally use t ...

then another retailer will not dare to sell the same kebaya for 20 rupiah"''. However, it failed almost immediately in this role as there was a limit to what one store or even a few stores could do in such a large country. Sarinah struggled to compete with other retailers and went into debt as it expanded aggressively into other cities in Indonesia. In the early 1970s, in an effort to survive, Sarinah moved its focus to local handicrafts, especially

batik Batik is an Indonesian technique of wax-resist dyeing applied to the whole cloth. This technique originated from the island of Java, Indonesia. Batik is made either by drawing dots and lines of the resist with a spouted tool called a ''ca ...

. It was renamed into the present name in 1979. On 6 October 2021, the government of Indonesia handed over the majority of the company shares to PT Aviasi Pariwisata Indonesia (Persero), as an effort to form a state-owned holding company engaged in aviation and tourism.

References

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External links

* {{Commonscat, Sarinah Department stores of Indonesia InJourney Retail companies established in 1962 Indonesian companies established in 1962