Ministop PH is now Uncle John’s

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Robinsons Convenience Stores, Inc. (RCSI) on Thursday announced that it would rename its Ministop convenience stores to Uncle John’s.

According to a statement from the Gokongwei group, the new name banked on the popularity of chain of store’s Uncle John's Fried Chicken.

Big changes are happening over at Ministop

“We are pleased to inform you that we are changing the store banner name 'Ministop' to 'Uncle John's,'” Ministop writes in a statement. After all, the 20-year-old brand is arguably best known locally for their fried chicken dubbed, yup, Uncle John, named after founder John Gokongwei, Jr. himself.

“It is also a celebration of the legacy of the late founder, Mr. John Gokongwei, Jr. of Robinsons Retail, the holding company of the convenience store chain,” the statement read.

RELATED: Ministop Now Delivers Their Fried Chicken

The new banner name was the winning entry in a contest, which asked for suggestions for a new name for the store.

With over 80,000 participants, Uncle John’s came up as the top choice among the entries.

“Uncle John's has become a household name for consumers on-the-go, looking for convenient options without sacrificing quality and taste in food,” said Suresh Ramalinggam, General Manager of Robinsons Convenience Stores Inc.

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“Using it as the platform in the reinvention of our stores provides us with a stronger brand story that our customers can relate to,” Ramalinggam added.

In February this year, Robinsons Retail acquired the 40% stake of Ministop Japan in RCSI. With this, RCSI is now a 100% Filipino owned company.

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ABOUT MINISTOP

Ministop Co., Ltd. (ミニストップ株式会社, Minisutoppu Kabushiki-gaisha) (TYO: 9946), a member of AEON, operates the Ministop convenience store franchise chain in Japan.

Unlike most other convenience stores in Japan, Ministop stores feature a kitchen that prepares sandwiches, snacks and take out bento boxes on demand, and has a seating area where customers can sit down and eat immediately.

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International operations

Ministop also operates in the Philippines (under Robinsons Malls), China, Vietnam and Kazakhstan.

South Korea

The first Ministop store in South Korea opened in November 1990 in Mok-dong, as a joint-venture with Daesang Corporation; Ministop bought Daesang's stake in the venture in 2003. As of October 2017, there were 2418 operating Ministop stores.

In January 2022, Lotte Corporation acquired the entire stake of Ministop Korea Co. for 313.37 billion won ($263 million).

Philippines

In December of 2000, the Japan-based convenience store chain Ministop made its way to the Philippines, being brought to the country by Robinsons Retail Holdings, Inc. in partnership with Ministop Japan and Mitsubishi Corporation.

In January 2022, Robinsons Group assumed full ownership of the Ministop business in the Philippines with 460 branches.

On September 22, 2022, they announced that all Ministop stores in the country will be rebranded as Uncle John's. The name, coming from the fried chicken brand sold in those stores, was chosen after topping the naming contest which they earlier ran.