Vacant Retail Space in Pantip and Palladium Shopping Malls

[Banana7]

Why is there so much vacant retail space in Pantip Plaza and Palladium Shopping Mall? Higher than the first 2 floors, lots of vacant space. Pantip use to be packed with vendors.

 

[bendejo]

My guess would be the traffic and transportation is so lousy in that area, combined with easier to reach alternatives.  If you find yourself around there during evening commute hours you'll see what I mean, particularly eastbound on Petchaburi Rd.

Technically, Panthip is "around the block" (meaning you don't have to cross any streets, but you do traverse a bridge over a khlong) from Siam Center, but that is one big block!

Fortune Town, on the other hand, is right over a subway station.

 

 

[kkerry]

A number of shops left Pantip and relocated to Palladium e.g. Busitek, but not enough, so Palladium looks deserted most of the time. It's also in a sort of awkward location to get to. Meanwhile, hardly any new shops opened in Pantip to replace the ones that left, while others simply closed down for good.

 

Many people now do all their online activity on their phone so don't buy desktops or laptops anymore. It's not only Pantip. Quite a few shops have been left empty at Zeer Rangsit the last couple of years as well, even the big JIB stores aren't what they used to be. Zeer stays busy because like Fortune, it doesn't rely on IT shops as much as Pantip. Zeer has many food outlets, some other retail outlets, a clothing market and the large food market out front, as well as a popular Monday night market.

 

If you go to the famous Sim Lim Square IT Mall in Singapore you will also find many empty shops on the upper levels, despite Funan, their main competitor in Singapore closing down for a massive revamp several years ago, When Funan reopens it won't have anything like the number of IT stores it had previously. In Singapore there has been a trend towards sales of older apartment blocks (and commercial buildings) with all the individual owners joining forces to achieve astronomical prices for the entire block. SLS has been on the market for the past year in the same way which tells you how many of the shops (which are individually owned) see the future.

[impulse]

My visits to Pantip and Fortune town decreased by about 90% once Lazada became a viable alternative.  I can't count the hours and dollars I saved by buying my tech stuff online instead of hoping to find it by scrounging the malls.  Not to mention being able to compare prices without insulting anyone...

 

[melvinmelvin]

also,

too high rent

 

[yellowboat]

Pantip has been on the decline for quite sometime, and online businesses offer low prices without intimidation of the hard sell.  Many retail spaces need to look more towards entertainment and food to stay in business.  

 

Apple still likes retail.  Was at their three story shop in Central (Hong Kong).  On the first floor, I asked: "why doesn't apple just sell online and forgo the outrageous rent?"  The sales person was shocked and appalled by such a question but could not answer.  Second floor, same thing happened.  On the third floor, however, the answer was given: Apple cares about the user experience.  Many retailers better consult online warehouses before offering outrageous prices.   

[jobsworth]

.aliexpress from china is also very good for online purchases of tech stuff.

[Dario]

This is not only at the two malls mentioned, this is something which happens now everywhere all around our planet Earth. The largest mall in Switzerland (The Mall of Switzerland in Ebikon) only recently opened, has half of their retail space vacant. More and more retailers which had rented space, are already leaving again. 

There is only one answer why: online businesses kill the retail shops. The richest man in the world is Mr. Jeff Bezos. Where does he derive his income again? From Amazon, the largest online platform. I buy often at Amazon, but I hardly ever go to a retail store, only for grocery shopping. I order on Monday from Amazon and on Friday my order is at my doorstep in the deep Isaan.

[dutchman]

You dont have problems about pay for tax ?

[phantomfiddler]

Landlords/owners too greedy by far ! Rent at a reasonable rate that allows the tenant a chance to make a profit, and a happy tenant is a long-term tenant ????

Edited January 26, 2019 by phantomfiddler

[Saladin]

Because there are far too many shops but they keep building more and more and more

[Mavideol]

have been in business for quite some time and learned from a very early stage the 3 magic words for business...... 1 location, 2 location and 3 location

[PerkinsCuthbert]

Even under normal circumstances, a high proportion of small retailers go bust or give up within months, not just in malls but throughout the city, due to lack of business experience, planning and foresight. But this is a global phenomenon now, as mentioned above. The good news, if you are one of the big landlords like Central Group, is that there are always people who want to be their own boss, and so there is an almost endless supply of people who continue to try their hand at bricks-and-mortar retailing.

The lesson is, be a commercial landlord, especially in a place like Thailand, where business taxes are modest and it's easy to flip between leaseholders; don't be a retailer unless you know what you are doing in terms of location, product, logistics and capitalisation, and can sustain any temporary downturn.

[Dario]

4 hours ago, dutchman said:

You dont have problems about pay for tax ?

If you are a customer of Amazon.com you will know and pay for transport and import duties in advance, it means when you order. No surprise from the Royal Thai customs. Amazon is very streamlined and has agreements with customs authorities all over the globe.

[Suradit69]

2 hours ago, Dario said:

If you are a customer of Amazon.com you will know and pay for transport and import duties in advance, it means when you order. No surprise from the Royal Thai customs. Amazon is very streamlined and has agreements with customs authorities all over the globe.

Actually if you use their global shipping service (or that of eBay or other online retailers) you are getting screwed. I would say maybe 20% of things I order from outside Thailand get held up and taxed by Thai Customs when sent via the post office. If you use one of those global shipping services who pre-charge you, you will (over)pay customs duty 100% of the time and get ripped off on shipping charges as well.  The only thing that's streamlined is the  amount of profit Amazon or others add to orders placed using this scam.

[fforest1]

How many malls does Bangkok have?......End of discussion....

[Sydebolle]

It's a deadly cocktail of:
- high, higher, highest rent
- location, location, location
- staff issues

- customer behaviour changing to more and more online shopping. 

Why should I be bothered going to a shopping centre, roam for parking, look around for shops just to find out that the article is no (or never was) in stock, the staff has no clue what I'm talking about, language issues etc. Leaving frustrated and try another centre with the same outcome. Combining it with food is equally boring, as there are everywhere the same food operators, be it MK, Fuji; Oishi, countless Japanese and two Thai "restaurants" based on MSG and lots of sugar in untasty food. 

Result: online, anytime there for you, compare products and prices with a nice coffee next to your computer keyboard; order and in no time the product you wanted appears on your door step. 

The retail industry has to reinvent itself with massively working on their approach with well trained staff, variations of products and the possibility where the customer can call by phone to enquire basics such as product availability.

Ever tried to call i.e. Villa to check on any veggie or fruit? Hopeless; do the same with Foodland and chances are that you get not only a correct answer but they will keep the product for you.