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Published on April 10, 2008

Property firm Noble Development has decided to shut down Playground, the company's retail store in Sukhumvit Soi 55 (Soi Thonglor), after four years of serving central Bangkok.

The company will either rent or sell the property to a new investor, said company president Thongchai Busrapan.

He said the company had to close the retail shop because it would not have been able to succeed and was recording huge losses even though the strong baht had helped reduce the cost of imported goods.

"We're now negotiating with investors who have expressed interest in buying or renting the 4,000-square-metre store," Thongchai said.

The company said it would move some of its retail business to the Central World branch, especially the imported Manga brand.

The move is not at all surprising, because Thongchai had already said he would close down the outlet if it did not achieve set sales targets within three or four years.

Closing down the shop is a significant move for Noble, because it had expected its retail operations to help balance its portfolio between revenue from sales and rental fees.

This is not the first initiative Noble has stepped back from.

In last year's third quarter, the company restyled its Bt640-million Noble Ambient condominium as serviced apartments after losing its competitive edge to rivals. Located in Soi Ruam Ruedi, they will be ready by the second half of the year, with monthly rents expected to be Bt60,000 to Bt100,000.

Thongchai said the company would shift focus to a "green" concept of business, in order to take advantage of high demand among environmentally conscious consumers wanting to live along mass-transit routes.

Noble Development plans to introduce at least four projects worth a combined Bt5.72 billion this year: Noble Reveal, Noble Nano, Noble Cube and Noble Residence. The company will spend Bt1million to build a land bank for condominium projects in the central business district along Skytrain routes.

Noble expects to record revenue of Bt2.76 billion this year, up 10 per cent from last year, with a presales target of Bt3.5 billion, helped by presales earnings of Bt1.2 billion in the first quarter.

Revenue is projected to grow 15 per cent next year, with its net profit spurred by four condominium projects.

Property Reporters

The Nation