Rural operators come to town

Siam Global House, the operator of Global House home-product and construction-material chain stores, has 10 stores upcountry and is planning its first outlet in Bangkok.

The Roi Et-based company's first store outside provincial markets will be on Chaeng Wattana Road, and because of the cost of the land, will be its biggest investment.

Chief executive Witoon Suriyawanakul said Siam Global House normally allocated about Bt300 million to the construction of each new outlet, but that in Bangkok was expected to cost at least Bt800 million.

The Bangkok store is expected to open in the fourth quarter of next year.

Witoon said this was a good time to expand into Bangkok because the capital was a much larger market and consumers were familiar with retail home products. He believes Siam Global House can beat existing home-improvement players in Bangkok because of its competitive prices.

The company is negotiating with strategic partners to join the outlet in the capital.

Siam Global House plans to open two more provincial outlets in the second half of this year, bringing its total to 12 branches. It is also planning to open four or five new stores next year, costing Bt1.2 billion.

Witoon said the company planned to revise upwards its revenue forecast for this year after revenue in the first six months increased by 47 per cent to Bt2.93 billion. He did not reveal a revised figure. The company earlier projected revenue growth of 15 per cent in 2010.

Meanwhile, Ubon Wassadu, a home-product and construction-material company in Ubon Ratchathani, has set up a new outlet called Do Home with total investment of Bt1 billion on Rangsit Klong 7, Pathum Thani province. It is its first outlet outside the Northeast.

Executive director Ariya Tangmitpracha said Ubon Wassadu saw a great opportunity for business expansion because of the many property projects under way in the north of Bangkok.

The north of Bangkok, he pointed out, is not far from Ubon Wassadu's customer base.