Siam-Jusco opens two new branches
The new concept for Jusco Department Stores, which will debut in April with the opening of Pure Place in Klong 2 in Rangsit.
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Siam-Jusco, operator of Jusco Department Store, is reinvesting in Thailand to open two new branches this year after its debt-restructuring plan worth Bt3.2 billion was completed this year.
The company is applying to withdraw from its restructuring plan at the Central Bankruptcy Court. Managing director Eiji Shibata said after a press conference to launch a new branch yesterday at Pure Place in Klong 2 of Rangsit that this was the first branch opened since the company suspended investment expansion after the 1997 financial crisis. "We are ready to expand our investment after our debt-restructuring plan was completed last year and we will withdraw from a debt-rehabilitation plan this year," he said. However, he declined to disclose the company's investment value this year. Shibata said the company would also be rebranding from Jusco to Max Value after the company withdrew from its debt-restructuring plan. Shibata said its parent company in Japan, Aeon, had given strong support to its investment plan this year. Siam-Jusco began operating in Thailand in 1984. By 2000, it had built its branches to 14, with revenues of Bt4.4 billion. But after the company faced a financial crisis, it closed nine branches, which generated lower income. The company has six branches and will add two more by the end of this year. It has changed its business concept by focusing on small branch superstores with areas between 1,000 and 3,000 square metres. "Our stores will also focus on food products, increasing from 75 per cent of the total last year to 85 per cent this year. This will be different from other superstores," Shibata said.
Somluck Srimalee
The Nation
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