Lego to open first certified store in Thailand

[webfact]

Lego to open first certified store in Thailand

By Kwanchai Rungfapaisarn 
The Nation

 

Atsushi Hasegawa, right, general manager for emerging Asia, Lego Singapore, and Arden Feschuk, director of commercial development of DKSH (Thailand) Ltd, at a press briefing held to announce Thailand’s first certified Lego shop in Siam Paragon.

 

Lego Group, a Danish manufacturer of plastic building toys, announced yesterday that it was opening its first certified shop in Thailand as part of a strategy to speed up growth in Asia. 

 

Scheduled to open tomorrow, the Lego shop at Siam Paragon will follow a “co-sharing” partnership between Lego Group and DKSH (Thailand) Ltd. 

 

Occupying 170 square metres of retail space, the outlet will carry some 300 Lego toys, 32 of which are exclusive products available only at certified Lego outlets. Retail prices will range from Bt180 per piece to over Bt30,000.

 

Atsushi Hasegawa, general manager for emerging Asia, Lego Singapore, said the toymaker has 240 certified stores all over the world, 50 of which are in Asia, including China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and now in Thailand. 

 

“Thailand is a very attractive market for Lego. The country has an established economy, a large population and an established retail industry,” Hasegawa said, adding that Lego will boost its investment in Thailand over the years.

 

He said that since more than half of the world’s children are in Asia, it is the future growth area for Lego. 

 

“We expect to see faster growth in Asia, including Thailand, and sustainable growth in Europe and America,” he said.

 

The first certified Lego shop in Thailand also reaffirms the Kingdom’s positioning in the ranks of top Lego countries in the Asian region. 

 

“Asia still has a low base for Lego toys compared to many established markets in the West, but the company is also seeing an opportunity to boost its sales by five or six times in the region,” he said. 

 

Hasegawa said that for Thailand, the company’s initial priority is not to increase the number of Lego stores, but to deliver the right brand experience to children at the right locations. 

 

“Our marketing strategies will aim to achieve a set target, with the expectation of Bt100 million sales volume in the first year.

 

There is also a plan to continuously expand Lego certified stores in Thailand later,” Arden Feschuk, director of commercial development of DKSH (Thailand) Ltd, said.

 

Feschuk added that the sales value at the Lego shop is estimated to hit more than Bt300 million in the next five years from now, which is in addition to other sales and distribution channels, such as department stores, specialist and general toy stores, hypermarts and e-commerce.

 

He said that about 60 per cent of Lego sales in Thailand come from department stores, over 15 per cent from specialist toy stores and the rest from other channels. 

 

“During the first year of opening, more than 400,000 people are expected to visit the store, with Thais accounting for 60 per cent and foreigners 40 per cent. Due to the company’s one-price strategy, exclusive Lego sets will cost the same here as they do in neighbouring countries. Due to this, Lego fans will no longer have to go overseas to buy Lego products. Also, new collections will be launched at the same time as in the States and Europe,” Feschuk said. 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/Corporate/30359531

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-11-30

[ezzra]

Hopefully they'll be using real bricks and mortar to build it and on Lego building blocks...

[sungod]

I find the prices of logo in Thailand ridiculously high, no coincidence that they opened their shop in a luxury shopping mall.

[JAG]

Quite amusing (to me at least), a couple of weeks ago many of the boys in my P5 class were absent (they were taking part in an inter school technology competition). When I asked where they were, one of the sophisticated young ladies in the back row replied "Oh, they have gone to play lego"!

[Misterwhisper]

It may be a great marketing move to distribute privileged customer cards to all Thai generals. I am sure there are plenty of toys in the store they just would love to have -- and at a much cheaper price and of better quality than the stuff they usually buy, too.

 

 

[AhFarangJa]

[PatOngo]

Great move Lego, great move Thailand, expect TAT to announce a 25% increase in tourism and spending of 50 billion baht as a result.

[Darcula]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

“Thailand is a very attractive market for Lego. The country has an established economy, a large population and an established retail industry,” Hasegawa said, adding that Lego will boost its investment in Thailand over the years.

 

Everything is awesome. Chai yo!

 

 

[overherebc]

I always liked Meccano.

[fruitman]

Technical Lego is exactly what young thai boys need.....i wouldn't even send my son to a Thai school but instead let him play with Lego all day and watch youtube movies.

 

My friend has a son of 12 who speaks fluent english, knows ALL about computers/robots and the lot and is a genius already. He all learned it himself and from youtube.

[Lupatria]

Thanks for the business!
Association of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons of Thailand
 

[Denim]

Old joke but relevant.

 

Lego are planning to open a new theme park in Pattaya.

 

It will be called Legover Land.

 

 

I'll get my coat ........................

[Cheops]

3 hours ago, sungod said:

I find the prices of logo in Thailand ridiculously high, no coincidence that they opened their shop in a luxury shopping mall.

I bought a Lego train set in the Netherlands for my kids for about half the price it is in Thailand. And the VAT in the Netherlands is 21%! I only buy Lego in Thailand when it's on sale. It's indeed very expensive here!

[SoilSpoil]

4 hours ago, JAG said:

Quite amusing (to me at least), a couple of weeks ago many of the boys in my P5 class were absent (they were taking part in an inter school technology competition). When I asked where they were, one of the sophisticated young ladies in the back row replied "Oh, they have gone to play lego"!

Lego Mindstorm Robots are quite advanced to be honest. Lot of Thai schools have a set.

[canopy]

4 hours ago, sungod said:

I find the prices of lego in Thailand ridiculously high, no coincidence that they opened their shop in a luxury shopping mall.

Well said! Why on earth are lego's priced so high in Thailand that only rich kids can afford them? I love legos but at these prices it's just a complete ripoff.

 

[fruitman]

32 minutes ago, canopy said:

Well said! Why on earth are lego's priced so high in Thailand that only rich kids can afford them? I love legos but at these prices it's just a complete ripoff.

 

I would buy it in the west, 2nd hand and loads of it to bring to thailand. It's the ultimate toy for kids imo.

[Justgrazing]

Lego jumped in to console Surat whose best buddy Buffalo is banged up at the mo' .. 

[djayz]

6 hours ago, canopy said:

Well said! Why on earth are lego's priced so high in Thailand that only rich kids can afford them? I love legos but at these prices it's just a complete ripoff.

 

Who in their right mind would pitch their product to the poor segment? 

 

 

[BEngBKK]

This business will fail big time. Lego is from Denmark, which have the lowest corruption level in the world. There is no way they can supply the brown envelopes required to be success full.....

[silver sea]

And I’m sure Thai parents will be reassured by recent research published in the Guardian:

 

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/nov/27/shit-a-brick-doctors-swallow-lego-to-allay-parents-fears

[stanleycoin]

On 11/30/2018 at 8:36 AM, PatOngo said:

Great move Lego, great move Thailand, expect TAT to announce a 25% increase in tourism and spending of 50 billion baht as a result.

There on the way already,  this was the scene at Savarnabhumi yesterday.

total chaos, 

 

[Cheops]

On 11/30/2018 at 1:22 PM, fruitman said:

I would buy it in the west, 2nd hand and loads of it to bring to thailand. It's the ultimate toy for kids imo.

I did that: bought a bulk 8kg mixed second hand Lego and brought it to my kids in Thailand (besides some new sets).

 

I think you could actually make a good business of importing bulk second hand Lego by container and open a shop here..... if it wasn't for the customs corruption that is ????

[Burma Bill]

On 11/30/2018 at 8:18 AM, Misterwhisper said:

It may be a great marketing move to distribute privileged customer cards to all Thai generals. I am sure there are plenty of toys in the store they just would love to have -- and at a much cheaper price and of better quality than the stuff they usually buy, too.

 

 

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