Rangsit Plaza, the owner and operator of Future Park shopping mall, expects revenue growth of 8 per cent to Bt1.65 billion this year thanks to rising rental rates and the opening of Alive Park next month.
The company has set aside a marketing budget of Bt300 million to create 300 activities at Future Park during the year. This is expected to boost the mall's traffic by at least 5 per cent, CEO Pimpaka Wanglee said yesterday.
The number of shoppers at Future Park averaged 150,000 a day last year, up 7 per cent from 140,000 daily in 2008.
Meanwhile, the company is continuing to suspend the development of new projects on 300 rai of vacant land, following its being unable to conclude a deal with Ikea to develop a shopping complex there last year.
"We hope Ikea will expand its investment at this location after its first branch opens on Bang Na-Trat in the next year," she said.
Pimpaka said the company had generated revenue of Bt1.53 billion last year, representing growth of 7 to 8 per cent from 2008.
Rangsit Plaza expects its sales will grow 8 per cent this year, when the company increases rental costs by between 7 and 10 per cent for customers that have to renew their contracts.
"Twenty per cent of our customers have to revise their contracts this year, out of our overall retail space of 250,000 square metres," she said.
The company has also spent Bt30 million on renovating its outdoor space as Alive Park since the final quarter of last year. Alive Park will open next month.
The company expects rental income of about Bt20 million this year from more events in this area.
Pimpaka said the customer target group in the Future Park location had changed from what it was five years ago, as a number of residential projects have been launched in the area - most of them for detached housing. People's purchasing power in the mall's catchment area has risen as a result.
Currently, 58 per cent of the mall's shoppers are people earning at least Bt50,000 per month, while 20 per cent are students. Spending per bill averaged Bt1,525 last year, about 7 per cent higher than in 2008.
