Mr. Napat Charoenkul, Managing Director of Retail Group, TCC Land Asset World Co., Ltd., revealed the overview of the business during the past 10 months that the company has been consistently growing. It is expected that in 2017, the revenue will approximately reach 3 billion baht or a 15% growth compared with the previous year, corresponding to the increasing number of customers from about 200,000 people to 250,000 people per day, who visit the company’s 10 current projects. Income generated by each project has met the set goal thanks to the development that enables all projects to be easily accessible and satisfy customers with all lifestyles. These two factors have become a foundation that strengthen the business, fostering a sustainable growth. In 2018, the company expects a total revenue to climb to 3.5 billion baht, or 17% growth, which is a result of the development and the improvement of shopping centers under the company’s umbrella as well as the expansion of the tourism industry.
In 2018-2019, TCC Land Asset World will renovate and enhance each shopping center, making it larger, more comprehensive, and better suit the lifestyles of modern customers. The shopping centers that are now under renovation and are expected to be completed in 2018 include Pantip Ngamwongwan with the 50 million baht investment budget, Pantip Bangkapi with 50 million baht investment budget, and Box Space Ratchayothin with 100 million baht investment budget, which will be transformed into “Community Market”. Some budgets are allocated to new projects that will soon be ushered such as Lasalle with 500 million baht Gateway Bang Sue Shopping Center with an investment budget worth 4 billion baht, Tawanna Bangplee with investment budget of 1 billion baht and Tawanna RAMA II with 2,500 million baht. Totally, the investment is 8.2 billion baht.
ASIATIQUE The Riverfront proclaims its status as the leader of the waterfront tourism business
with many fun activities to be launched throughout 2017 as well as a new signature zone to attract tourists.
Mr. Manop Khamsawang, General Manager and Asset Manager of ASIATIQUE The Riverfront Brand, announced that today, ASIATIQUE has become a major tourist destination in Thailand. It has won numerous prestigious awards such as the ‘People's Choice Award 2017’ in the popular tourist destination category awarded by Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).
Owing to many previous developments, there are now more than 50 new shops and restaurants in the project, such as Wine I Love You – a famous wine cellar, and Lugang Café – the first international Chinese restaurant in Thailand that serves signature dishes of each city in China and Taiwan. Each shop has its uniqueness that meet accommodate the needs of customers and tourists with a variety of tastes and preferences.
As more and more tourists are visiting the project, the number is expected to surpass the target of 12 million by the year 2017. The development of real estate projects on both sides of the Chao Phraya River also represents business opportunities in this area. Taking the business to another level, ASIATIQUE has always established a good partnership with other business entrepreneurs on both sides of the river in order to develop business potentials, stimulate the tourism industry and MICE business along the Chao Phraya River. This helps to increase the business dynamics, pushing ASIATIQUE to become one of the global travel destinations that travelers from around the world must visit. This sign ensured that in 2018, the tourism industry along the Chao Phraya River will see more tourists. The tourist arrivals are 30% Thai and 70% foreign. The top five Asian countries whose people visit Thailand the most are China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, and Indonesia. ASIATIQUE also aims to attract European tourists in the future.
“In general, the tourism industry is likely to continue in a good direction in terms of the number of tourist and the money circulating in the industry. According to the Ministry of Tourism and Sports and the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the number of tourists traveling to Thailand has increased over the past year, whether from China, Russia, South Asia, South Korea, and CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam) as well as tourists from America. Both public and private sectors have prepared many marketing activities to seize this golden opportunity. ASIATIQUE is also preparing promotions and fun activities to accommodate both Thai and foreign tourists. It is expected that from the end of this year to the New Year’s festival, there will be even more tourists coming than in the same period of the last year.”
Regarding the plan to organize activities as a farewell to the year 2017, Mr. Manop added that the company has prepared a “Countdown” activity as the highlight of the event for visitors to bid farewell to the last year and welcome a new year together. This countdown will be the biggest New Year’s welcoming party ever. And to celebrate the 5th anniversary of ASIATIQUE, there will be a spectacular light and sound show, and a concert by famous artists such as Non The Voice, The Parkinson, Mister Team, Moss Patipan, Nui Ampol, Nakarin Kingsak, and Instinct. Another highlight is the fireworks, the symbol of the event, designed by a famous fireworks designer from Japan.
“In the near future, we plan to create new phenomena to strengthen our leadership in the waterfront retail business and brighten up the atmosphere of tourism such as an exhibition of the three-masted shipbuilding, a symbol of trade relations between Thailand and other countries. It even conveys the importance of this location as the first international commercial port of Siam, which is ready to bring back the great prosperity in the reign of King Rama 5 to Thailand again. The product mix in the shopping center will be upgraded with more brand name goods to support ASIATIQUE as a popular tourist destination with all kinds of products for all lifestyles. For example, in the High Street Zone near the warehouse 4 next to the parking lot 2, there will be new shops such as Beautrium – a beauty mega store for customers of all ages, Ownday’s Chain – the most famous high quality eyewear shop from Japan, and Watsons store – the number one health and beauty store in Thailand and Asia, and Watch Station, a multi brand watch store that gathers a myriad of international watches. On this area of more than 350 square meters, customers will be pampered with quality products of their tastes,” added Mr. Manop.
Gateway Ekamai creates a new phenomenal growth of up to 15% amidst the boom of retail business in Ekamai – Sukhumvit, preparing to launch more activities in 2017 to expand customer base in the family segment.
Ms. Ratchaphruek Ubon-Sri, Asset Manager, Gateway Ekamai Shopping Center and Center Point of Siam Square, said that throughout the year 2017, Gateway Ekamai Shopping Center would be committed to the non-stop development to meet the lifestyles of diverse customer groups. All popular shops and services would be included in one roof such as Pepper Lunch – a popular steak restaurant from Japan, SunCosmate – a center of world's leading premium cosmetics brands sold at special prices, Homepro S – a new store for home lovers under the concept ‘Small-Service-Select' adding convenience to home decoration, and Bunka Fashion School – a fashion design school under the Bunka Fashion College in Japan. Throughout the year, the center has organized many events and attracted visitors. The total revenue is expected to be 338 million baht, or a 15% increase from 2016. The shopping center together with its business partners will continue to launch good activities, responding to customers needs in 2018.
“For the market overview until the end of this year, it is expected that customers will still continue to spend. The center has prepared good activities to give happiness and celebrate the festive season, such as POWER RANGER DINO FORCE BRAVE during November 24-26. It will be the first time in Thailand to witness this exciting live action show 'Power Rangers Dino Force Brave Show - EP. Brave in!’ which is a great battle of the brave dinosaurs. Free admission! Another event is URBAN HAPPINESS @GATEWAY EKAMAI, which will take place from December 1-31 to celebrate the festival of happiness with special events throughout December. Enjoy mini concerts of famous artists, and be impressed with a magnificently decorated Christmas tree, and a special ‘dining’ campaign of the year."
Meanwhile, the competition in the retail business of Sukhumvit area where the shopping center is located is still very competitive. Every business needs to develop a unique selling point to make it stand apart from competitors. Adapting to the business climate, the shopping center, positioning itself as a place for family, plans to expand the customer base to the family group and welcome more stores that can create new experiences that suit the family lifestyle in the heart of the city. This family-oriented direction also supports the expansion of schools, communities, and surrounding housing areas, especially for families in the Sukhumvit area with high purchasing power and high frequency to use the service. The goal is to make Gateway Ekamai Mall become 'Every Day Family Shopping Mall'. In 2018, ready to create a new phenomenon, a new zone and shops will be opened to support family customers. The 3rd floor of the center will be turned into a family space where members can enjoy spending time together. Shops such as KIDS & MOTHER ZONE, the pastel “Kid Space” that uses only safe materials for children, TOYS R US THAILAND offering a wide variety of top branded toys will be included in the area of approximately 450 square meters. TOM N TOMS COFFEE, the first international flagship store will also come to Gateway Ekamai, with the main support from a Korean investor, actor Kim Myung Min, who will take part as a presenter in all public relations activities. This new branch will open a new dimension to the coffee experience with a unique decoration and design, creating a distinctly modern ambience, with amenities, imported coffee beans from around the world, and a greater selection of food menus.
Center Point of Siam Square has generated over 200 million baht in revenue, reinforcing its image as 'Beauty & Fast Trend', and welcoming new shops to attract new generation of customers in Siam Square.
For the operation of Center Point of Siam Square, Ms. Ratchapruek Ubon-Sri said that the development of the center under the concept of 'Beauty & Fast Trend' is able to meet the needs of its target customers well. There are many newly launched stores such as It's Skin – a Korean cosmetics brand that is well-known as safe, mild, and natural to the skin, Beautrium Beauty Mega Store – a world's leading multi beauty brands shop, Make Up Store – a leading beauty cosmetics brand from Sweden, and other various new local brands. They will become a new look for Siam Square on the area of over 300 square meters, making the image of Siam as ‘Beauty & Fast Trend’ stand out more clearly. In addition, the center has been transformed into a Co-on ground, an outdoor area around the center, which serves as a snack market and a meeting point of hipsters. Co-Here Space is the 4th floor where visitors can do activities and get promotions and many more. These mentioned activities succeed in attracting a lot of people to use the services.
In addition, they are preparing to celebrate New Year's Eve with the ‘Warm Up Countdown 2018’ event. For the first time, the road that runs through the center of Siam Square will be closed to give way for a novel style of New Year’s countdown. A ‘Warm Up Party’ will start on December 31 starting from 6 pm and will be joined by famous artists loved by Thai and foreign listeners - Peck Palitchoke, Oat Pramote and 2moons. Get a chance to win Bangkok - Maldives flight tickets from Bangkok Airways, the latest i-Phone, and many other prizes. Customers can take in a shopping spree journey with a Warm Up Sale as a thank you gift to customers who purchase and use services from participating shops in the center. A Warm up Market will gather specially selected products at the end of the year like fashion products and gifts. For those who are looking for gifts to special ones for the New Year’s festival, there is free gift wrapping service provided when purchasing from stores within the center.
"Generally, Siam Square is on a path of a continuous growth as well as a high competition. The center has to always come up with new activities such as Valentine's Day 2018 in which single people who will be greeted by cuddly boys and lovely girls, Hipster Market @ CENTERPOINT OF SIAM SQUARE, where chic trendy fashion goods from the heart of Siam Square like clothes, accessories, bags, shoes, DIY products will be sold, and not to mention mini-concerts, meet & greet events, and workshops all year round. We have all interesting shops and goods that can satisfy customers’ tastes,” concluded the manager.
Pantip continues to upgrade its new branches – Ngamwongwan and Bangkapi – after successfully reimaging 'Pantip Pratunam' as a shopping center of IT technology and incorporating E-Sports to stimulate purchasing power.
Mr. Weerarit Somboonsub, Asset Manager of Pantip, revealed that the company had plans to continuously upgrade the shopping centers to become the leaders of IT Mall, piloting with Pantip Pratunam and recently with Pantip Chiang Mai. Currently, undergoing the renovation are Pantip Ngamwongwan and Pantip Bangkapi. Since earlier this year, Pantip has organized activities every month, including the opening of the E-Sport arena, which was met with a very good response. Pantip also received cooperation from partners, especially gaming shops that are offer the most comprehensive and largest variety of products for customers to choose such as Lenovo, View Sonic, Corsair, Phanteks as well as E-Sports by Thermatake. Mobile shops are also beefed up with Oppo, Vivo, Huawei, Xiaomi, AIS BUDDY, and IT City, which has converted to a serious gaming store, specializing in gaming products. The number of customers who visit Pantip Pratunam Shopping Center this year increased by more than 40% compared to that of the last year. It is expected that the revenue will grow by about 15% as well. There are more and more new business customers who are interested in visiting and renting the space in Gaming Zone, Mobile Zone, and Technology Lifestyle.
On Strategic business development, Mr. Weerarit commented that from the end of this year to the beginning of the next year, Pantip Pratunam will host a regional game competition with games from Point Bank and True Digital Plus. The final round will be held at the Pantip E-Sport Arena. There will be sales promotion events such as Notebook For Life during December along with promotional activities for foreign customers to create awareness among customers about the wide range of technology products and expertise that Pantip has to offer as the most comprehensive IT mall in the country.
Regarding consumer behavior and purchasing power, Mr. Weerarit added, “The coming New Year’s festival is expected to significantly boost purchasing power. And since consumer behavior is beginning to change, people are looking for practical gifts and trendy products. As it turned out, consumers are likely to buy more IT products such as notebooks, smartphones, and gadgets, especially when the iPhone8 and iPhone 8 Plus have just been launched in early November. In addition, the approval from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports that E-Sport is now considered a type of sport helps stir up interest among customers. It is expected that the products in the computer assembly category will receive more attention. This is a good sign to Pantip Shopping Center. We are one of the largest and most comprehensive IT hardware stores in Thailand. Apart from this, Thailand 4.0 policy will become a major player in the Thai economy that pushes Thailand to compete in the world level. It is imperative that businesses adjust well to the digital world, both at the corporate and national levels. Key technologies that will be of assistance include Cloud, Big Data, social networking, handheld devices, and IoT devices. Pantip Pratunam recognizes the importance of Thai economic adjustment, and prepares products and services as well as products that are difficult to find in order to meet the needs of consumers in various segments. At Pantip, there are also experts who are ready to share knowledge, information, and advice so that customers are able to select the products that best meet their needs. This will be an important factor in promoting future growth. "
Tawana Bangkapi returns with a new concept of a modernized community market, the first model of its kind in Thailand.
Mr. Supadej Lertpayap, Asset Manager of the Tawanna Brand, said, “Tawana Bangkapi was established in 1997. For all the past 20 years, the development of Tawanna flea market has never stopped. Up to now, it is recognized by shoppers as the largest air-conditioned market in the Bangkapi area with a complete array of fashion goods that are trendy and reasonable priced. The market itself is beautiful, very enjoyable to walk and shop since all kinds of fashion items here.
So as to carry on the consistent development, in 2018, we have a plan to transform the market model into a community market which better suits today's business environment. The community market is a combination between a community mall and a flea market that serves 3 consumer needs: the need for purchasing daily necessities and services, the need for a market where customers can chill out, and the need for affordable products that are worth the money. Our target customers are those who live within the 3-5 km vicinity of the market with the income level from C- to B- Community market aside, Tawanna Bangkapi also has various leading brand products, such as supermarkets, fashion garments, movie theaters, large repair centers, etc., under its roof just like in other big shopping centers or community malls. The company will develop more Tawanna projects simultaneously in three locations – Bangkapi, Bangplee, and Rama 2.
For “Tawan Bangkapi,” we have modernized and beautified its landscape in that the tents in front of the project are now upgraded to accommodate shopping activities in the rainy season. The surrounding landscape is made cool and pleasant, and visually attractive to passersby. In the future, more stores, for example Domino Pizza, Watsons, Top Charoen Eye Lab, and so on, will be added to meet all lifestyles of customers and make the shopping experience more gratifying. These improvements are meant to strengthen the leadership of Tawanna as the first and longest-standing open-air market in Thailand.
