A replica of the Central Group’s first retail store in 1947 on Surawong Road

In the new era, the Central Retail Group is preparing a sizeable budget of Bt10 billion to launch its retail business in China, marking the first foreign venture by Thailand's biggest retail conglomerate.

Retailing remains the flagship business of the group, which is now diversified into real estate, hotels and resorts, trading and manufacturing.

Central Retail Group CEO Tos Chirathivat said on Wednesday the first step in the group's retail-business expansion into major cities of China would be finalised this year.

"We're talking with the local developer of a new shopping complex in a major Chinese province about leasing space for our first department store. The deal is almost 90-per-cent complete," he said.

Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou and Tianjin will follow, he said.

Vietnam also shows potential, due to its rapid development, and in 15-20 years it will catch up with Thailand. However, the retail business there is in the start-up stage, he said.

Each of the six eras in the retail group's history took about 10 years and experienced many significant developments and turning points, he said.

Central has been in the retail business for 60 years, since 1947, when the first Central store opened on Surawong Road. Its first department store appeared in Bangkok's Wang Burapha area in 1956. At that time, Central Wang Burapha was the largest and most comprehensive store in the country, carrying almost every type of merchandise.

"We also opened a Central Department Store on Silom Road in 1968, and it was the most modern and fashionable department store in the land. It was also the first time for a department store to feature ultramodern facilities and the first supermarket to be linked with a department store," Tos said.

"The Chidlom branch debuted in 1973, under the new 'one-stop shopping' concept, which allows customers to come to Central and buy everything they need in one place. The Chidlom store has served as the country's first international department-store complex," he said.

Central Lat Phrao joined the chain in 1983. It was Thailand's largest shopping complex at that time, with many units, including a shopping plaza and a hotel, in one location and serving as the inspiration for other shopping complexes dotting the country today, he added.

Pichai Chirathivat, president of Central Marketing Group, Central's trading and manufacturing arm, said the group would enter its seventh decade by branching out to key markets in the region.

"Last year, we started exporting our own apparel brands, including S'Fare, Casualist, Puppet and Evoluzione, to many markets in Asia," he said, adding that the group expected to increase foreign sales from only Bt20 million last year to about Bt130 million this year.

The company ships apparel to nine countries in the Asia-Pacific, including Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Burma, the Maldives and Australia, and plans to cover 15 export markets in a couple years.

The company handles almost 30 brands of fashion apparel and accessories, including Wrangler, Lee, Benetton, G-Shock and Pentax.

Pichai said the Central Marketing Group expected to achieve total sales, including exports, of Bt5 billion this year, up from Bt4.7 billion last year.

Kwanchai Rungfapaisarn

The Nation