TCC Land's malls to focus on specialities, cater to AEC
TCC Land Retail Co, a property-development business of Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, ranked one of the world's richest people by Forbes, yesterday mapped out its investment strategy under which the firm would put more focus on opening specialised stores to s
No longer will the company’s customers be only in Thailand, but will also serve the 600 million people across the region. Its malls will be differentiated from their rivals by concentrating on stores specialising in such services as healthcare, said Wisanu Wangwisut, the company’s senior executive vice president.
The firm is one of the bidders to develop 13 rai (2 hectares) at Sam Yan owned by Chulalongkorn University. If the firm wins the bid, the firm intends to construct an ‘‘innovation centre’’. Another bidder is Land & Houses.
The complex will house a three- or four-star hotel, a shopping mall and a conference centre, with total space of 200,000 square metres. Construction will cost Bt5 billion to Bt6 billion. Under the contract, the firm will operate the project for 30 years, not including four years for construction.
At the shopping mall, the firm plans to sell innovative products and parts, especially machinery and equipment, which are hard to find in Thailand. In May, TCC Land will open Gateway Ekamai, a Japanese shopping mall. It is a pilot project to serve the AEC.
The firm has invested Bt2 billion so far. The eight-storey mall will house 400 stores. Of the total, 50 per cent will offer Japanese food.
TCC Land expects the mall to attract 25,000-30,000 visitors a day, and double that on weekends. Target customers are not only Japanese but Thais, expatriates and tourists from Asean countries.
It is expected to generate more than Bt20 million in space rental per month and would get an investment return after 11 years of operation.
