In addition to Thamrin, Sarinah also has a number of other outlets namely at Pejaten Village in South Jakarta, Banyumanik (Semarang) and Malang.

[a][3] The first store in Jakarta was built by Obayashi Corporation using Japanese war reparation funds, and opened in August 1966.

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 for 10 rupiah then another retailer will not dare to sell the same kebaya for 20 rupiah".

Sarinah struggled to compete with other retailers and went into debt as it expanded aggressively into other cities in Indonesia.

[6] In the early 1970s, in an effort to survive, Sarinah moved its focus to local handicrafts, especially batik.