Central to add supermarkets
Central Food Retail Co, the operator of Tops Supermarket, looks set to spend 1 billion baht this year to expand the business.
Phattaraporn Phenpraphat, the company’s executive vice-president for marketing and public relations, said the budget will go primarily towards expanding the number of stores, renovating existing outlets and IT facilities.
For the new stores, the company will focus on Central Food Hall, a premium supermarket, and Tops Superstore outlets. New branch openings are mostly set for the second half.
The company plans to open two Tops Plaza stores in Sing Buri, one in the Northeast and two Central Food Hall stores, one each in Phuket and Patong Beach.
Two Tops Superstores will open this year after the outlets previously opened in Phichit and Phayao outperformed expectations.
“Tops Superstore helped push our first-quarter sales to grow at a double-digit rate,” Mrs Phattaraporn said.
In addition to new branches, the company also plans to renovate its existing stores this year, starting at CentralWorld. The store renovations are scheduled to be complete by year-end.
“Buoyed by a gradual improvement in consumer spending power in the first four months of the year, we’re committed to continuing our investment, focused on opening retail stores in second-tier cities to expand our customer base,” Mrs Phattaraporn said.
There are 276 retail stores under Central Food Retail. They include 108 Tops Markets, 83 Tops Superkooms, 68 Tops Daily stores and seven Tops Superstores, as well as various food halls.
In related news, the company yesterday announced a partnership with the Commerce Ministry to organise Thailand’s Amazing Durian and Fruit Fest 2018, running May 18-23 at Square B and Square C of CentralWorld.
The company is also arranging a durian event to run June 8-15 at CentralFestival Pattaya Beach. That event is expected to boost sales of the fruit at all Tops store formats this year to 1,000 tonnes, up from 700 tonnes and 400 tonnes in 2017 and 2016, respectively.