Toby Anderson, the new general manager of Central Watson Co Ltd, Thailand's largest health and beauty retailer, has undertaken to continue the company's annual investment of Bt300 million in the Kingdom "this year, and for many years to come".

The Hong Kong-based company plans to double its business here in terms of both sales and the number of stores within the next five years.

Anderson said that Watson's would invest Bt300 million this year in expanding new stores, information technology, people training and marketing activities.

Anderson, 33, took over as general manager in April, succeeding Alan Nementzik, who headed the company for two years.

His responsibilities include driving the company's retail strategies and business development in Thailand and managing day-to-day operations, including finance, information technology, retail operations, supply chain management and property.

"Our management team is quite confident in doing business in Thailand, despite uncontrollable factors such as rising oil prices and increasing interest rates, which will create a tougher economy in the second half of this year," Anderson said.

Thailand's economy is still growing up and its consumers are still looking for health and beauty products. The country has become a strong tourist destination and the new Suvarnabhumi Airport will bring even more tourists, he said.

Before joining Central Watson, Anderson had an 11-year career with Sainsbury's Supermarkets, the second-largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. He was scope and strategy manager before heading up Sainsbury's huge online grocery service, which has annual earnings of about £200 million (Bt14 billion).

"My ambition is to maintain Watson's leadership among local health and beauty retailers, in terms of both sales and the number of stores," he said.

With this year's investment, the company hopes to increase its number of stores from 100 to more than 150.

At present, about 60 per cent of Watson's stores are located in Bangkok and the rest are upcountry.

"We want to double our business in terms of sales and numbers of stores over the next five years," Anderson said, adding that Watson's has been in Thailand for nearly 10 years and there are many more years for both investment and growth.

"The company has seen great investment potential in Bangkok and upcountry.

"We see good growth in both existing stores and new stores about to be opened," he said. "The retail industry in Thailand is very dynamic and is paving the way for new business opportunities."

He said there were increasing numbers of young women and men using health and beauty products. More than 70 per cent of Watson's shoppers are under 30 years of age.

"We have set clear strategies to ensure that we maintain our leadership in the health and beauty retail market. We would like

to focus on sourcing trendy,

innovative and exclusive products from all over the world, including from Paris, China and here in Thailand."

He said Watson's stores offered an average of about 6,000 products, including hundreds of pharmaceutical items, such as those for family planning, medicated skincare and slimming, as well as health foods.

Thailand is now one of the leading markets for Watson's stores in Southeast Asia with similar growth to Malaysia and the Philippines. Watson's has also opened 196 stores in China, the highest growth market in the world.

Kwanchai Rungfapaisarn

The Nation