Thai shops losing to superstores
BANGKOK: Not long ago, the small clothing store on Bangkok's premier
commercial thoroughfare probably would have earned a nice profit, given its
prime location.
But a vast shopping center next-door overshadows the small shop and the sign
that announces its name: 'Amazing'. Eventually, the shopping center may mean
doom for the small store, which opened only five months ago.
The shop's owner, Payom Bunchanthuek, says he may have to close the business
if sales of his jeans, jackets and T-shirts don't pick up soon. Like other
small retailers in Thailand, he blames the mushrooming of large chain stores
for snatching away potential customers.
Big European retailers that sell everything from groceries to hardware are
moving into Thailand fast, changing age-old shopping habits and lifestyles.
The mall-style superstores, now common in the United States and other
countries, aim to do business with a Thai population that is growing richer.
But they also are making it harder for Thailand's traditional family-owned
shops to compete.
The small stores, known as shophouses, often include the business at the
street level and family quarters above.
Developers are no longer pouring investments into building shophouses as
they did in the 1980s and early 1990s, said James Pitchon, an executive of
the real estate firm CB Richard Ellis. In fact, many of the shophouses
across Thailand now stand empty.
Shophouse owners, many of them Thais of Chinese descent, say all of these
developments mean bad news for their businesses. And some commentators here
say that social interaction between shopkeepers and neighborhood customers
will vanish as shoppers flock to larger stores.
However, the owners of some shophouses say they have found ways to compete.
(AP)
For reprint rights: Times Syndication Service
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