Siam Discovery hosts Flight 001 concept store for one-stop travel services
Flight 001, a New York-based one-stop shop for international travellers, yesterday opened its first concept store in Bangkok's Siam Discovery mall as part of its plan to cash in on the booming travel industry in the region.
“We are so pleased to expand in Asia and especially in Bangkok,” Brad John, co-founder of Flight 001, said yesterday. “We see Thailand as a major expansion market in Southeast Asia and a leader in the retail world. We look forward to great success for Flight 001 in Bangkok, which is one of the most visited cities in the world.
“We expect to double our sales contribution in Asia from currently 25 per cent to about 50 per cent in 2015,” he said.
The Bangkok outlet is the company’s 18th franchised store in the world. The 19th store will follow next month in Harajuku, a ward of Tokyo prefecture, which will be the first free-standing store in the region. About 10 Flight 001 stores will be opened in Japan alone by next year.
The first franchised stores in Asia were launched in Singapore about 10 years ago. Now the company has six stores in the United States under its own management. In Asia, it has two stores in Singapore, three in the Philippines, two in Indonesia
and one in Taiwan. Most of them are operated through franchising.
The company will expand its Flight 001 franchised stores in other high-potential markets around the world, including Britain, Germany and Brazil, John said. It expects to have about 40 stores globally by 2017.
Flight 001 was conceived in 1998 aboard Air France Flight 023, somewhere between New York and Paris. John Sencion and Brad John, two business travellers who had spent far too much time preparing for their trip, envisaged a travel store as streamlined as flight itself.
Their mid-air epiphany resulted in an all-inclusive retail experience designed to satisfy the frequent traveller’s every need.
Sencion said the company was looking for locations in Southeast Asia and expected to open stores in all markets in the region over the next two or three years.
Bandhit Nilchiansakul, marketing director of Retail One, the local franchisee, said the company expected to open two or three Flight 001 concept stores in Bangkok and other cities by 2015.
More than 22 million travellers came to Thailand last year, he said.
“Thailand has already adopted visa-free entry with Japan. The possibility of adopting visa-free entry with China in the future will allow a greater number of travellers between the countries,” he said.
The Siam Discovery store is targeted to register about Bt15 million in sales in the first 12 months, of which about 60 per cent would come from travel accessories and 40 per cent from travel bags and luggage, as well as backpack products.
