Villa Market Suk Soi 11 Closed Today, Relocating

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Stopped by the Villa Market in Sukhumvit Soi 11 today, and to my dismay found that the store there is closed as of today, permanently. And AFAICT, without any advance warning to customers.

 

Staff there told me they're going to be relocating to a new location further/deeper into the soi on the Soi 3 side of the street. But the lady manager I was speaking with said the new location won't be open for at least another 2 months, so in the meantime, no Villa Market at all in Soi 11.

 

Why they couldn't get the new location ready first and have a relatively seamless transition from old to new, I have no idea. You only get headaches when you start asking those kinds of obvious questions here in Thailand.  And knowing how things work here, wouldn't be surprised to have the estimated 2 months timeframe offered today end up stretching out longer.

 

BTW, for locals, in addition to Villa there, that whole corridor of former massage shops and hair salons between the Villa space and the Indian restaurant Bawarchi on the opposite side has been emptied out entirely in the past couple months, so almost everything in that corridor is already vacant. Don't know if Villa just wanted to go to a newer space, or they lost their lease because the owner there has some bigger/broader plans for that entire area.

 

Of course, on the opposite side of Soi 11 there across from Villa, the entire area of shops and the Soi 11 subsoi of restaurants also has been vacated and closed off in the past year, and I gather is awaiting demolition for the coming supposed construction of a big project there.

 

Edited April 12, 2018 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[SooKee]

Stopped by the Villa Market in Sukhumvit Soi 11 today, and to my dismay found that the store there is closed as of today, permanently. And AFAICT, without any advance warning to customers.
 
Staff there told me they're going to be relocating to a new location further/deeper into the soi on the Soi 3 side of the street. But the lady manager I was speaking with said the new location won't be open for at least another 2 months, so in the meantime, no Villa Market at all in Soi 11.
 
Why they couldn't get the new location ready first and have a relatively seamless transition from old to new, I have no idea. You only get headaches when you start asking those kinds of obvious questions here in Thailand.  And knowing how things work here, wouldn't be surprised to have the estimated 2 months timeframe offered today end up stretching out longer.
 
BTW, for locals, in addition to Villa there, that whole corridor of former massage shops and hair salons between the Villa space and the Indian restaurant Bawarchi on the opposite side has been emptied out entirely in the past couple months, so almost everything in that corridor is already vacant. Don't know if Villa just wanted to go to a newer space, or they lost their lease because the owner there has some bigger/broader plans for that entire area.
 
Of course, on the opposite side of Soi 11 there across from Villa, the entire area of shops and the Soi 11 subsoi of restaurants also has been vacated and closed off in the past year, and I gather is awaiting demolition for the coming supposed construction of a big project there.
 

I've always preferred Villa at Soi 33 (apart from the cramped aisles and speed humps), always seemed to have a better range (of the things I use it for at least). Next to that, the one near Big C at Rama 4 (especially for the on site St Etoille bakery). Always amazes me that even at Villa there's little consistency in stock ranges. Not sure if they're franchised or not?

Still, it's a shame the one in Soi 11 has closed. I was there last week and noted all the massage shops cleaned out. It was often handy to go there when I was in the area to stock up on pharmacy stuff from the place near Soi 4 (much cheaper than Boots or even South East).

The lack of transition planning is no surprise. The new one will likely open in time for the 1st year anniversary of this post!

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[TallGuyJohninBKK]

57 minutes ago, SooKee said:

I've always preferred Villa at Soi 33 (apart from the cramped aisles and speed humps), always seemed to have a better range (of the things I use it for at least). Next to that, the one near Big C at Rama 4 (especially for the on site St Etoille bakery). Always amazes me that even at Villa there's little consistency in stock ranges. Not sure if they're franchised or not?
 

 

AFAIK, all the Villas are company stores. And the one at Soi 33 is the main headquarters branch one, so it's often said to have the best/better selection than many of the nicer, roomier outposts. But I'm a tall guy, and I hate shopping in those narrow aisles, and walking the uneven, sloping floors.

 

It's also farther from my home than either the (former) Soi 11 branch or the even smaller Suk Soi 2 branch, which remains open for those who frequent the area. But after getting turned away from Soi 11 today, I headed over to the Soi 2 branch in an attempt to buy a meat item that's always been available at the Soi 11 branch (cooked roast beef), and the Soi 2 staff looked at me like I was out of my mind asking for it...   In the end, they said try the Soi 33 branch...  But, I don't need their roast beef that bad, so, I skipped it!

 

 

 

[LALes]

All the massage shops had to close on January 1.  None of the leases were renewed.  I believe the Ambassador Hotel owns the land and was tired of complaints by their female guests about where their husbands were at night!  Already, 2 Indian restaurants have taken the opportunity and expanded into some of the old massage shops.  I don't know if the Villa property is part of the Ambassador land, but it certainly looks like someone has big plans for Soi 11-and it probably won't look like anything we want.

[lomm]

At the last year they was open until midnight.

At the last two weeks they close at 22:00.

All the massage place closed already.

The owner is ambassador hotel.

I believe that they are going to do there something.

You have foodland at soi 5, it's better.

 

[SurinBeach]

There's a map on the Ambassador Villa door saying "moving to" and it looks like next to Insanity / Le Fenix area, so handy for Hyde /Prime tenants etc

Ps Tops (24hrs I believe) in/under Robinson near Soi 17 is OK if u live Soi 13 (like me and used Villa)

Pps Zaks has gone in the past month so it'll be another condo or hotel!

[lomm]

No. I stay in soi 15.

Top's open 24 hrs but not everything there open after midnight.

Foodland at soi 5 better.

Zaks closed and i'm very sorry for this.

I was sitting there 4-5 times a week.

I don't know what they going to do there.

[ChidlomDweller]

It's a shame about it being gone from there.  You'd think it's a good location, also for the many tourists who don't want to eat out all the time.  

 

I must confess I wasn't sad to see sperm row evacuated a few months ago.  It was a bit of a nuisance for the shoppers, and the women not very alluring to put it politely.   I would think the Ambassador hotel gets a lot of Indian families staying there, so that didn't surprise me.  

 

Just speculating, but I hope longer term the game plan isn't to go more upscale with the Ambassador.   It's dated but otherwise really good value with a super convenient location even if you don't want to party at night.  Before I moved to Bangkok I stayed there a few times, as well as the President Palace up the street.  The latter was since renovated and is now the Mercury? hotel or something.  The interior looks much worse than before and room prices were up 40% when I checked for a visiting friend recently.  

[ExpatOilWorker]

Villa at Soi Langsuan also closed in a similar abrupt fashion a couple of month (6 maybe) ago. Consolidating shops or...?

[AgMech Cowboy]

18 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

It's also farther from my home than either the (former) Soi 11 branch or the even smaller Suk Soi 2 branch, which remains open for those who frequent the area. But after getting turned away from Soi 11 today, I headed over to the Soi 2 branch in an attempt to buy a meat item that's always been available at the Soi 11 branch (cooked roast beef), and the Soi 2 staff looked at me like I was out of my mind asking for it...   In the end, they said try the Soi 33 branch...  But, I don't need their roast beef that bad, so, I skipped it!

I liked going there because they had parking and/or were closer to the Sky Train. I also frequent the hair saloon, "KHAN", that was just across from the back entrance.

[Thaidream]

Soi 11 and most everywhere else in Bangkok continually evolves- The Ambassador is the owner and did not renew any leases.  It has a project in mind for the area- The Ambassador itself has evolved. It was once named the Chavilit Hotel as the owner was named Chavalit. It used to house American military deployed in the area and he made oodles of money from US Government contracts. He purchased all the land around there about 50 years ago and also has Ambassador City in Jomtien, He has passed away and theHotel/Land etc is family owned.

 

Villa Market is a family run business. The owner started work at the old US Commissary in Klong Toei- decades ago and started  a Western style market in Thailand and also had the foresight to be able to ship to foreign embassies/consulates in SouthEast Asia.  He has used his profits to expand his markets all over the area . Villa started in 1974.

 

Foodland started in 1972 and has not nearly expanded as much as Villa- but Foodland has a different type of Product line and many find Foodland a better 'buy' for certain items.

 

 

[mokwit]

20 minutes ago, SurinBeach said:

There's a map on the Ambassador Villa door saying "moving to" and it looks like next to Insanity / Le Fenix area, so handy for Hyde /Prime tenants etc

Ps Tops (24hrs I believe) in/under Robinson near Soi 17 is OK if u live Soi 13 (like me and used Villa)

Pps Zaks has gone in the past month so it'll be another condo or hotel!

Insanity itself must be the only supermarket capable building in that area.

 

My guess is that Ambassador put the rates up on lease renewals to nonviable levels - I note the Hairdresser relocated and the schlock shop at the other end has more than doubled its space, indicating not planning redevelopment. Ambassador HQ is utterly rigid when it sets new prices and local management can't deviate. so they lose business that can't cover the new rates. Foodland (not Villa) owner says he is as much inthe property business as the supermarket business as he has to have loew property cost to make the business work.

[AgMech Cowboy]

22 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Why they couldn't get the new location ready first and have a relatively seamless transition from old to new, I have no idea. You only get headaches when you start asking those kinds of obvious questions here in Thailand.  And knowing how things work here, wouldn't be surprised to have the estimated 2 months timeframe offered today end up stretching out longer.

Most likely the new place is not ready because the contractor could not deliver on time. Although most of you believe everything here is done on a back door basis; businesses like Villa survive because they adhere to good business practices. That means they took bids for the work and selected the contractor due to price and delivery. Not uncommon for the contractor to encounter an unforeseen obstacle. If Villa wrote the contract well, then Villa will get discounts for failures to deliver and should have given bonuses for beating the schedule.

 

But we'll never be privy to the contract so can only speculate (and of course on Thai Visa, criticize).

Edited April 13, 2018 by AgMech Cowboy
poor punctuation and spelling

[mokwit]

Just now, AgMech Cowboy said:

Most likely the new place is not ready because the contractor could not deliver on time. Although most of you believe everything here is done on a back door basis business like Villa survive because they adhere to good business practices. That means they took  bids for the work and selected the contractor due to price and delivery. Not uncommon for them to encounter an unforeseen obstacle. If Villa wrote the contract well, then Villa will get discounts for failures to deliver and should have given bonuses for beating the schedule.

 

But we'll never be privy to the contract so can only speculate. And of course on Thai Visa, criticize.

To me it was so sudden and so without warning I guess there was a game of brinkmanship going on WRT lease renewal and at the deadline something (Villa) gave.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

29 minutes ago, ChidlomDweller said:

It's a shame about it being gone from there.  You'd think it's a good location, also for the many tourists who don't want to eat out all the time.

 

As noted above, the closest markets to the former Villa Soi 11 are both 24 hour operations:

--Foodland Suk Soi 5

--Tops Suk Soi 19

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

28 minutes ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

Villa at Soi Langsuan also closed in a similar abrupt fashion a couple of month (6 maybe) ago. Consolidating shops or...?

 

I didn't even know they had a Villa there. How long did it last there before it closed?

 

[NoshowJones]

11 minutes ago, Thaidream said:

Soi 11 and most everywhere else in Bangkok continually evolves- The Ambassador is the owner and did not renew any leases.  It has a project in mind for the area- The Ambassador itself has evolved. It was once named the Chavilit Hotel as the owner was named Chavalit. It used to house American military deployed in the area and he made oodles of money from US Government contracts. He purchased all the land around there about 50 years ago and also has Ambassador City in Jomtien, He has passed away and theHotel/Land etc is family owned.

 

Villa Market is a family run business. The owner started work at the old US Commissary in Klong Toei- decades ago and started  a Western style market in Thailand and also had the foresight to be able to ship to foreign embassies/consulates in SouthEast Asia.  He has used his profits to expand his markets all over the area . Villa started in 1974.

 

Foodland started in 1972 and has not nearly expanded as much as Villa- but Foodland has a different type of Product line and many find Foodland a better 'buy' for certain items.

 

 

Villa would be better shutting down all their stores as some of their prices are outrageous. one item about 50% dearer than Foodland. Though I do admit to using the one at Soi 33 occasionally as they have a good variety of food there, but they really ought to do something about some of their prices.

[blackcab]

14 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

Villa would be better shutting down all their stores as some of their prices are outrageous. one item about 50% dearer than Foodland. Though I do admit to using the one at Soi 33 occasionally as they have a good variety of food there, but they really ought to do something about some of their prices.

 

They are not going to shut down if they are making a profit. Ultimately, as you know, they will charge as much as they can as long as people keep buying.

[NoshowJones]

1 minute ago, blackcab said:

 

They are not going to shut down if they are making a profit. Ultimately, as you know, they will charge as much as they can as long as people keep buying.

Yes, that's true.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

28 minutes ago, AgMech Cowboy said:

But we'll never be privy to the contract so can only speculate (and of course on Thai Visa, criticize).

 

Whether on ThaiVisa or elsewhere, I pretty much think it's OK to criticize a business for poor customer relations/service.

 

I've been a longtime customer of the Soi 11 store, know the manager there, in there pretty much every week. And never saw or heard anything about an impending closure/relocation, until I walked there yesterday, found the front door locked with a handwritten sign on a sheet of A4 paper taped to the door saying "closed," then went to the back door and found it open and all kinds of store staff inside, but no customers, closed.

 

While I was standing there talking to one of the supervisors to find out what was going on, a steady stream of customers was coming down the hallway intending to go shopping only to be turned away by a security guard who spoke no English and whose only response was to cross her hands in a "X" shape. Now that's very helpful.

 

And then, the supervisor I was talking to in English couldn't even specify what exact location they were going to be reopening in in "2 months." The best she could say was further into the soi on the Soi 5 side of the street. Well, that's very helpful.

 

So in addition to all that, now we'll apparently have at least a two month period of no Villa Market in that area. People are creatures of habit generally speaking. Because Villa couldn't manage to execute a relatively seamless relocation, their customers are going to be shopping elsewhere in the meantime, and may well find alternate arrangements that they'll stick to even once the future Villa reopens. Not to mention the future location apparently is much farther away from the main road and the nearby Nana BTS station, making it more inconvenient for a lot of their current shoppers.

 

Maybe they'll do OK when they return in the new location. But if I were a betting man, I'd bet it will be a long time, if ever, before they get back to the customer volume they had in the original Soi 11 location. Speaking personally, I probably won't be going there, and instead will take my Villa business to either the Soi 2 location (closer) or the Soi 33 location (better stock & selection).

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

27 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

Villa would be better shutting down all their stores as some of their prices are outrageous. one item about 50% dearer than Foodland. Though I do admit to using the one at Soi 33 occasionally as they have a good variety of food there, but they really ought to do something about some of their prices.

 

I shop at pretty much all of the farang oriented places, and with Villa, I'd say it's a mixed bag -- some things are much more expensive, other things are comparably priced to other supermarkets. But what has kept me as a customer of theirs over the years, prices aside, is the fact that they stock various farang things that pretty much no other places in BKK stock. So I don't do my general shopping there, but I do regularly go there for things I simply can't get anywhere else.

[lomm]

I don't think that I'll go to soi 2.

Foodland and Tops closer to me.

So they loose one costumer and I was go there twice a week.

I went there one hour ago. they took everything out from soi 11.

 

[flexomike]

1 hour ago, Thaidream said:

Soi 11 and most everywhere else in Bangkok continually evolves- The Ambassador is the owner and did not renew any leases.  It has a project in mind for the area- The Ambassador itself has evolved. It was once named the Chavilit Hotel as the owner was named Chavalit. It used to house American military deployed in the area and he made oodles of money from US Government contracts. He purchased all the land around there about 50 years ago and also has Ambassador City in Jomtien, He has passed away and theHotel/Land etc is family owned.

 

Villa Market is a family run business. The owner started work at the old US Commissary in Klong Toei- decades ago and started  a Western style market in Thailand and also had the foresight to be able to ship to foreign embassies/consulates in SouthEast Asia.  He has used his profits to expand his markets all over the area . Villa started in 1974.

 

Foodland started in 1972 and has not nearly expanded as much as Villa- but Foodland has a different type of Product line and many find Foodland a better 'buy' for certain items.

 

 

When I was stationed in Bangkok from 1968-1970, US military we had a compound on Sukhumvit called the Villa Club, is this the site of the Villa store on Sukhumvit 33, my memory fails me on this.

[NoshowJones]

32 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

I shop at pretty much all of the farang oriented places, and with Villa, I'd say it's a mixed bag -- some things are much more expensive, other things are comparably priced to other supermarkets. But what has kept me as a customer of theirs over the years, prices aside, is the fact that they stock various farang things that pretty much no other places in BKK stock. So I don't do my general shopping there, but I do regularly go there for things I simply can't get anywhere else.

Yes, I'm the same.

[anon537687643]

All the massage shops had to close on January 1.  None of the leases were renewed.  I believe the Ambassador Hotel owns the land and was tired of complaints by their female guests about where their husbands were at night!  Already, 2 Indian restaurants have taken the opportunity and expanded into some of the old massage shops.  I don't know if the Villa property is part of the Ambassador land, but it certainly looks like someone has big plans for Soi 11-and it probably won't look like anything we want.

Oh yes land developed for more condos (to keep empty )

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[ExpatOilWorker]

2 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

I didn't even know they had a Villa there. How long did it last there before it closed?

 

At least 10 years.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

19 minutes ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

At least 10 years.

 

And then they closed it, but didn't reopen elsewhere?

 

[Shaunduhpostman]

That's a loss for Soi 11 and everyone staying in the area. I worry about the soi in general, there has long been a good wine and dine and party atmosphere there, good for holidayers as well as ex-pats, but the condominiums that are said be getting put up may significantly disturb the balance. I no longer live in Bangkok, so haven't been monitoring how things are developing, tho nothing that drastic seemed to have changed back in February when I was in town.

 

Actually, what you can buy in the supermarkets is one of the main draws for me to come to town from Isaan. Its better than a meal in a good restaurant in Bangkok to just have  a picnic in your hotel room on stuff you got at Villa. Villa is the best one, great deli items, probably the best selection of beer and wine in Thailand. Foodland is a distant second, they do have good sliced cheeses and when the bakery items aren't stale they are good, but their beer selection seems to get more and more depleted every time I venture in. Not that I go to supermarkets just to buy beer, but to see the selection shrink by 60% only to be replaced by bottles of Chang and Spy just makes you feel discouraged about the place in general.

 

Still there is no supermarket in Thailand you can go to and cover all of the bases, Villa is just an important part of the puzzle. Also, the supermarket on the top floor of Emporium has maybe the best produce, Villa is too expensive and not always that good for fruit and vegetables. Tops, while much better than TESCO, is just not very good mostly. Tops is the best we have in Roi Et and rabidly inconsistent, seems they phase products out simply because I buy them. Products as exotic and inessential as coffee or coffee filters which were altogether unavailable for 3-4 months in both Kalasin and Roi Et, had to order them from Bangkok ourselves as the supermarket managers don't take requests or never get around to taking care of them. 

 

All that said, I'm glad Villa and other supermarkets seem to be going fairly strong even in the face of much diminished numbers of western tourists and residents. I am much more hard pressed to find clothing and shoes that fit, books and magazines are becoming more and more depleted and you wonder if European and American foods won't also go the same way, but so far not much of a problem, there's still a Villa on Soi 33 and as you say they'll re-open on Soi 11 eventually.

Edited April 13, 2018 by Shaunduhpostman

[HooHaa]

5 hours ago, lomm said:

At the last year they was open until midnight.

At the last two weeks they close at 22:00.

All the massage place closed already.

The owner is ambassador hotel.

I believe that they are going to do there something.

You have foodland at soi 5, it's better.

 

Foodland in so 3 is not better for international product selections, however it did have nice coldcuts and decent produce.

 

Villa had more higher end specialty stuff. If i were cooking a special dinner or experimenting with a new recipie that had some more exotic ingredients, villa was the place to find them. 

[mokwit]

1 minute ago, HooHaa said:

Foodland in so 3 is not better for international product selections, however it did have nice coldcuts and decent produce.

 

Villa had more higher end specialty stuff. If i were cooking a special dinner or experimenting with a new recipie that had some more exotic ingredients, villa was the place to find them. 

I went in there once to see how much the Leo was but got funny looks from gourmet types who seemed to have some problems with my shorts flip flops and Leo tank top.