Ambitious bag maker set to open fourth store

The company will invest Bt2 million on its latest outlet, located on Nimmanhemin Road in the northern capital.
Its three current stores – situated in Pattaya, Phuket and Koh Samui – together generate monthly sales of around Bt5 million.
Panet, 37, decided to go into business by expanding the family-run company from producing bags made to other brands’ orders to building its own brand, Ferera, in a move that has doubled sales since 2010.
“I saw my mother’s business, producing cotton and silk bags for supply to other customers’ brands, but I thought I could create a brand by myself that would generate sustainable income for our family business. As a result, when I graduated with a master’s degree in business administration from Japan, I started to run my own [aspect of the] family business in 2010,” he explained.
Ferera Co Ltd was established by Panet’s mother, 68-year-old Janya Sirisupidaranant, more than 30 years ago for the production of cotton and silk bags to customers’ orders and for other brands, for both domestic sale and export.
Panet, who got his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Thammasart University before his master’s in Japan, decided to restructure the family business to build its own brand after seeing strong demand from foreign tourists. “When I studied in Japan, I learned how to do business and also that, if you want to create sustainable growth for your business, you have to build your own brand that will be better than producing for other brand-makers.
“This is because when your production costs become higher than those of other manufacturers, your customers will move orders to other plants that can offer lower costs,” he said.
After restructuring the family business in 2010, Panet opened the company’s first store in a tourist destination, Pattaya, the following year. The outlet received positive feedback, which persuaded him to open two more outlets, in Phuket and Koh Samui. The stores serve demand from foreign visitors wishing to buy cotton and silk bags for their own use or as gifts for friends.
The company’s soon-to-be opened Chiang Mai outlet will target both local demand and the foreign tourist market.
“The key to our business growth since 2010, even during times of only slight economic growth, is the quality and design of our products. We also offer reasonable prices to match people’s purchasing power. Our bags cost an average of Bt200, which is easy on the pockets of both local and foreign tourists, while our designs can compete with the bags of brands sold at higher prices,” said the managing director.
Panet added that although the company was in the category of small and medium-sized enterprise, it had been able to build its own brand by using a wide range of channels for brand creation, including social media and traditional stores.
“I think the market now has more channels to choose from when promoting a company’s products. But the key to promoting your brand successfully in the market is your product quality, which has to be equal to or even better than what you say in your promotional efforts. This will build your brand value among customers and enable you to compete with rivals,” he stressed.