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Published on July 14, 2007

While most traditional small players shiver at the sight of yet another giant Lotus or Carrefour opening down the road, Rimping Supermarket remains defiant.

"We have to accept the fact that today's a globalised world," Voravat Tantranont, managing director of the upmarket retailer with three branches in the city centre, said yesterday.

"The retail bill, if it passes into law, will only momentarily slow the expansion of modern trade," he said, likening the intense competition to an elephant on the rampage. "The only way to survive is to stay under its belly," he said.

Rimping has been penetrating the high-end market through careful selection of products and personalised attention, treating its patrons like a small community.

"But customers with high spending power can be tough to please at times," he said.

That is not to say Voravat is avoiding the mass market.

He holds franchise rights for 7-Eleven convenience stores in Chiang Mai, Lamphun and Mae Hong Son provinces and plans to have 120 stores this year.