Community malls seen as the way to go

Central Retail Corp yesterday officially opened its first community mall Tops Marketplace Udomsuk, set to serve office workers and residents in Udomsuk and nearby areas.

Central Retail Corp (CRC) will spend Bt450 million to Bt600 million to open two or three community malls in Bangkok next year, plus another 10 to 20 within five years.

The plan was announced yesterday as the company opened its first community mall, Tops Marketplace Udomsuk, on 4.5 rai of land in Bangkok's Udomsuk area.

Thanapon Tangkananan, vice president for business development, said his company was looking for potential locations of 5-10 rai in the greater Bangkok area. Each community mall will cost between Bt150 million and Bt200 million.

"We want to open 10-20 community malls in Bangkok within the next five years," Thanapon said, adding that the company would build them upcountry, too.

Its first community mall in the Udomsuk area features 5,000 square metres of retail space, and 24 shops have already opened. Tops Market is the main anchor, and other retailers include salons, an optical store, women's and babies' wear, a bookshop and a dental clinic.

As well, there are restaurants run by television stars, such as Chalit's Kitchen, operated by Chalit Fuang-arom and his son, Vorarit; and Chom Yuth Dim Sum, run by Puri Hiranpruk. There is also a manicure shop operated by Chalita Fuang-arom called Cafe de Nail.

Targeted customers are office workers and residents living within 3-5 kilometres: along Sukhumvit Soi 103 (Soi Udomsuk), Bang Na-Trat Road, Srinakarin Road and Chalermprakiet Ror Kao Road.

CRC is the operator of Central and Robinson department stores, Tops Supermarkets and speciality stores like PowerBuy, SuperSports and B2S.

Thanapon said community malls were CRC's latest retail format, in addition to its speciality stores.

"Community malls are a new retail format in which we have strong interest at the moment, because there is plenty of room in the market," Thanapon said.

The compact retail format can be developed more rapidly than can larger-scale shopping complexes that face stricter regulations, he said.

Thanapon, who is also president of the Thai Retailers Association, said Thailand's retail market was expected to improve in the second half of the year.

"We expect overall retail sales to grow 4-5 per cent this year. But with our ongoing economic and political difficulties, local retailers must work harder on attractive campaigns to promote customer loyalty and attract shoppers," he said.

Overall retail sales grew 3-4 per cent last year to between Bt1.4 trillion and Bt1.5 trillion. However, the retail market has fallen from double-digit to single-digit growth since 2006, because of economic and political instability and external factors like the spiralling cost of oil.