KUALA LUMPUR: Harvey Norman is here to stay, as the Australia-based retailer proceeds with an aggressive expansion plan to increase its footprint in the country.

The latest brick-and-mortar outlet will open in Miri, Sarawak, on May 3 – offering hundreds of special deals and promotions in conjunction with its launch.

This will be the retailer’s second outlet across the South China Sea, with the first one launched in Kuching in June 2017.

According to Harvey Norman Asia managing director Kenneth Aruldoss, the Miri Times Square outlet spans over 40,000 sq ft and covers a comprehensive range of products across electrical and electronics, as well as furniture and bedding. He stressed that customers in Miri and Brunei will also get to benefit from the retailer’s Shop with Confidence promise, including policies for price guarantee, exchange, holding deposit and product care.

“Harvey Norman has one price point, so regardless of where you buy it in Malaysia, the price is the same and Miri customers will get these benefits,” said Aruldoss who encourages customers to go into the stores and negotiate deals. “We also cater for Bruneian customers.They can come to Miri and shop at our store, and we’ll give them the same support and quality service including after-sales service,” he added.

He assured customers that all Harvey Norman stores, including those in Kuching and Miri, will carry the latest products.

Harvey Norman has plans to open four other stores in the second half of the year – in Tebrau and Southkey (Johor), Ipoh and Kota Baru.

The retailer is also eyeing several locations in Sabah and Sarawak, with an upcoming outlet in Kota Kinabalu. Its parent company in Australia is looking to open nine new stores by end-2020 and bring its total outlets here to over 50 by end-2023, with growth in South-East Asia predominantly to come from Malaysia.

According to its latest annual report, sales revenue performance from Harvey Norman Malaysia stood at S$152.33mil for FY2018, up 10.5% from S$137.89mil in the previous year.

“Malaysia is the best performing country, with Singapore coming in second, in terms of growth and profits (among other indicators),” said Aruldoss, adding that the results were due to Malaysia’s growing middle class population.

Currently, Harvey Norman has more than 280 stores across eight countries and 17 outlets in Malaysia.

It opened its first store here in 2003 at the IPC Shopping Centre in Selangor, which was later revamped into its flagship superstore covering two levels in November 2017.

Harvey Norman also operates an online platform for its customers since four years ago.