Uncle John's is a

convenience store A convenience store, convenience shop, corner store or corner shop is a small retail business that stocks a range of everyday items such as coffee, groceries, snack foods, confectionery, soft drinks, ice creams, tobacco products, lottery ticket ...

chain based in the Philippines owned and operated by Robinsons Convenience Stores Inc.

History

Ministop Philippines

Uncle John's traces is roots to the

Ministop (), a member of AEON (company), AEON, operates the Ministop convenience store Franchising, franchise chain in Japan. Unlike most other convenience stores in Japan, Ministop stores feature a kitchen that prepares sandwiches, snacks and take out b ...

franchise in the Philippines which was owned by Robinsons Convenience Stores Inc (RCSI). Robinsons Retail Holdings, Inc. (RRHI) of the Gokongwei Group entered into a partnership with Ministop Co. and

Mitsubishi Corporation is Japan's largest trading company (sogo shosha) and a member of the Mitsubishi keiretsu. As of 2022, Mitsubishi Corporation employs over 80,000 people and has ten business segments, including finance, banking, energy, machinery, chemicals, an ...

to run the Ministop franchise in the Philippines under RCSI. The first Ministop branch in the Philippines was opened in December 2000. In 2006, Ministop Philippines introduce the Uncle John's Fried Chicken which would become its flagship product. By 2014, it has grown to the second largest convenience store chain in the Philippines behind

7-Eleven 7-Eleven, Inc., stylized as 7-ELEVE, is a multinational chain of retail convenience stores, headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The chain was founded in 1927 as an ice house storefront in Dallas. It was named Tote'm Stores between 1928 and 1946. A ...

with the opening of the 400th Ministop branch in

Bonifacio Global City Bonifacio may refer to: Places * Bonifacio, Corse-du-Sud, a town in Corsica, France * Strait of Bonifacio, separating Corsica from Sardinia * Bonifacio, Misamis Occidental, a municipality in the Philippines * Bonifacio Global City, a central bu ...

. In 2018, RRHI acquired Mitsubishi's stakes in the Ministop Philippines franchise to increase its stakes to 59.1 percent from 51 percent. In January 2022,

AEON The word aeon , also spelled eon (in American and Australian English), originally meant "life", "vital force" or "being", "generation" or "a period of time", though it tended to be translated as "age" in the sense of "ages", "forever", "timele ...

, the Japanese parent company behind Ministop, announced that it would pull out Ministop out of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and

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to focus developing the brand in its home market. AEON's partner, Robinsons Retail would buy out the stakes of the Japanese firm in the Philippines the following month. Robinsons announced that Ministop Philippines would undergo a rebrand, with its local bestsellers such as Uncle John's Fried Chicken would be retained as part of its offerings.

Uncle John's

In September 2022, it was announced that the Ministop stores in the Philippines would be rebranded as Uncle John's after the

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

fried chicken product of the same name. In October 2022, the outlet in Pampanga was the first to exhibit the new Uncle John's yellow-blue branding. The rebranding process of the Ministop outlets in the Philippines is projected to be completed by 2023. RRHI announced a merger of RCSI with its wholly-owned subsidiary Robinsons Supermarket Corp., which was approved by the

Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...

on December 19, 2022 and would take effect on July 1, 2023.

Branding

Uncle John's uses blue and yellow as the main colors for its brand. The name of the outlet which came from its fried chicken product was selected through its "Ready, Set, Name!" promotional campaign held in April 2022 which yielded around 80,000 entries. The name of the chicken brand is a reference to RRHI founder John Gokongwei, Jr.

Products

Uncle John's is known for its various signature products which were sold back when it was still operating under the Ministop name. Among these are Uncle John's Fried Chicken and ''Kariman'' fried sandwich.

References

External links

* {{Convenience stores Convenience stores of the Philippines 2000 establishments in the Philippines Philippine brands Retail companies established in 2000 Companies based in Quezon City