B2S merchandising vice president Chairat Petchdakul yesterday said the company had hoped the CentralWorld branch would be fully operational soon after it opened in July. But about 20 per cent of the work remains to be completed on CentralWorld, and the B2S shop is not expected to be fully operational until next February.

The Bt70-million outlet occupies 4,500 square metres and contains more than 13,000 Thai and foreign movies, music CDs, stationery, 200,000 books, 4,000 magazines, an Internet and coffee cafe and a postal-service corner.

He said a large outlet like B2S should attract 20,000-30,000 visitors a day, but CentralWorld's failure to finish construction meant only about 1,500 people were using the shop.

Chairat said he did not know the amount being spent in the store but conceded that the unimpressive performance would reduce B2S's overall profits.

Chairat said the company would not reduce its sales target but would try instead to maximise purchases, with the target of breaking even within five years.

B2S managing director Dean Thompson said the shop had still experienced 25-per-cent sales growth each month.

Its grand opening ceremony will be held this Friday, with an increased marketing budget and plans to expand its number of foreign-language books.

The store is the latest of 15 branches to open this year. Next year, it plans to open at least 20 branches nationwide as either magazine stands or bookshops, ranging in size from 200 square metres 2,000 square metres.

Thompson said the company had no plans to open another branch the same size as the one in CentralWorld, because finding a similar amount of space was difficult.

However, Chairat said some of its other stores would soon have a decor similar to the flagship branch, which uses what they call a "learning garden" design. This will provide a "natural feel" next year to 76 of its bookstores and 36 of its magazine stands.

Nitida Asawanipont

The Nation