Mall Group sees retail recovery, adds promotions

"We allocated a budget of over Bt100 million for the whole year to organise campaign events, up by 20 per cent on last year. We have to stimulate sales amid the tough economic climate," said Vanchai Janvuttarunggul, The Mall's general manager for shopping complexes.

He added that consumer purchasing power had started to come back a few months ago, indicated by increased shopper numbers. On weekends, about 150,000 shoppers come to The Mall Bang Kapi, the most popular branch of The Mall Group. And spending per head in restaurants in some branches, such The Mall Bang Khae, showed double-digit growth.

The Mall's promotion events in this half of the year are organised around a "new experience" theme. The first event is "The Mall Shopping Centre Wonder Sale: Fun Fair" at The Mall Bang Kapi and Ngarmwongwan. The event, in which The Mall Group invested Bt10 million, is being held until to August 12.

"Consumer spending is coming back, while the government's projects to boost the economy should be implemented in this period. Apart from political uncertainty, we have nothing to worry about for the second-half operation," Vanchai added.