Japanese retail development
begins to show signs of life

Royal Ahold to quit Southeast Asia

Asia-Pacific’s largest mall set
to open in KL this October

First Courts store opens in Phuket

100 Lotus Supercenters in
China by 2006: CP Group

Revamps, renovations,
repositioning — S’pore malls go
all out to lure shoppers

HK’s CRE to slow expansion
plans in China

Schroder buys first retail
property in HK

Ikea’s largest Asian store
opens in Shanghai

Taipei 101 Mall set to open later
this year

Malls in S’pore fight back SARS
scare

OG to leave Great World City in
S’pore when its lease expires

More outlets outside Bangkok:
SF Cinema

Thailand’s Seacon Square earmarks Bt107 million for upgrades

 

FIRST COURTS STORE OPENS IN PHUKET

UK-based Courts, the furniture, electrical appliances and computer software giant chainstore, is making its foray into Thailand by opening its first chain outlet in Phuket with an initial investment of Bt100 million (US$2.4 million).

Courts Megastore (Thailand), a joint venture firm by Courts (Singapore) Ltd and the British headquarters Courts (Overseas), said Thailand has potential for retail growth due to strong demand in consumer products and its large population. It says Thailand is its fourth retail target after Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

The firm expects to build some 70 outlets country wide within 10 years, an investment of around Bt2 billion. It says it wants to set up a solid base in the south of Thailand over the next three years before heading to north.

The firm believes that the first store in Phuket will achieve Bt200 million in sales a year. Besides, Phuket, other provinces earmarked for store opening include Surat Thani, Phang Nga and Krabi, with plans to open three or four branches in each province over the next three years.

The size of the stores will vary, from a 2,000 sqm store like Courts Megastore in Phuket to smaller outlets of around 500 sqm called "satellite" Courts, offering only the best-selling products.

Courts has 330 stores in 21 countries.