Thai Retail News

Central Chidlom gets B60m fashion facelift
New Luxe zones host exclusive brands

Central Department Store Co has overhauled its Chidlom branch to offer more premium and differentiated products than other retail outlets in the area.


Natira Boonsri, vicepresident for merchandising at Central Department Store, joins models at a presentation on the store’s new offerings.
The facelift is in line with planning for another company-owned retail development to open in three years at the UK Embassy plot next door to Central Chidlom.


Central has spent 60 million baht on a major renovation of its men's and women's fashion departments for the first time in four years, said Natira Boonsri, the company's vice-president for merchandising.

Luxe Men & Luxe Galerie zones have been developed on the fourth and first floors and will have a grand opening on May 21.

"Luxe Men and Luxe Galerie will be Chidlom's new attractions to draw customer groups, particularly those between 25 and 30 years old," she said.

The Chidlom branch's luxury image will also be strengthened with a worldwide selection of premium luxury brands.

The Luxe Men zone will be on the fourth floor across 1,100 square metres with products including suits, polo shirts, trousers, jeans and accessories for men including facial care and scent.

Luxe Galerie covers 2,000 sq m and combines fashionable products and accessories for women, under the concept of a one-stop shopping destination.

Most of the products in the two zones are exclusive to Central Chidlom. The brands added include Cole Haan, Boyy, Diane Von Furstenberg and See By Chloe. Several brands will be launched in Thailand's first "Shop in Shop" zone.

"We will continue to seek and bring more of the world's leading brands to Central Chidlom to update our 63-year-old department store to be modern and to stay number one in terms of service and product offering," she said.

Mrs Natira said the economic and political situation had only slightly affected the sentiment of the store's customers.

"This customer group continues to spend on shopping whatever the situation is. More interesting, the spending per time of this group is about 20,000 baht each. With the new attractions, we expects to boost the spending per time to rise to 25,000 baht," she said.

To promote its new fashion zones, the company plans to spend 25 million baht to build brand awareness and emphasise Central's luxury image.

The facelift should enable the store to attract new customer groups, both men and women aged above 25 years who follow trends and love elegance and luxury brands, said Mrs Natira.

Fashion contributes about one-third of the company's sales revenue. Central expects to gain 100 million baht in extra sales from these two sections at Chidlom - a 28% increase from 350 million baht per year to 450 million.