Walked in to the Foodland at the basement of Royal Garden this morning and there's a sign saying that they're closing at the end of March.

 

I suppose with the restaurant empty most of the time and the supermarket barely bigger than a 7-11 it's been a long time coming 

 

Most of the people that could do with the breakfast there probably live more along Buakhao and crossing 2nd road is too much, breakfast at Pascal's is a safer bet

 

Anyone gonna miss this? I find the food quality there is very variable and the parking inconvenient for anyone that lives beyond the area, there's no need to ever get grocery from that location, most short term tourist won't know that it's there being in the basement and all, and locals knows of better place to go from Friendship to Foodland proper on Klang or even the terminal mall

I have been using it occasionally for convenience but it's not a big deal as I'll just use the T21 location instead. 

Only time I would use it would be to buy a few items just to get free parking at Royal Garden. Very few, if any, other customers buying stuff when I was in the store,so no big surprise.

We have been in there a couple of times ,but hardly anyone there,lets face it wheras years ago Royal Garden was a go to place ,those days are long gone ,only pop in once in a blue moon now ,just for a change .

Close it and forget it and build a proper store either on the darkside or the southend like Ban Amphur area

Terrible location.

Basement no view or open feeling.  Grocery very limited.

Maybe totally block it off and make a gogo bar.

Otherwise, most people that walk past have no clue anything is down there.

Probably end up a ghost space.

Was really hoping they'd open a store on Thepprasit Road, Jomtien when they put that sign up on the vacant land. Foodmart has a money earning monopoly in that area. 

Royal Garden lost its good vibe a long time ago.

5 hours ago, kinyara said:

Was really hoping they'd open a store on Thepprasit Road, Jomtien when they put that sign up on the vacant land. Foodmart has a money earning monopoly in that area. 

10 years sgo

5 hours ago, kinyara said:

Was really hoping they'd open a store on Thepprasit Road, Jomtien when they put that sign up on the vacant land. Foodmart has a money earning monopoly in that area. 

Foodmart are even worse than Villa for their prices, well they were the last time I was in it, would

never go back.

Always got the impression it stocked what tourists might want. Obviously not selling the volumes they anticipated. Hope they do something useful with it. A slightly more upmarket bar might be a good call.

8 hours ago, kinyara said:

Was really hoping they'd open a store on Thepprasit Road, Jomtien when they put that sign up on the vacant land. Foodmart has a money earning monopoly in that area. 

Who needs Foodland? When they opened ages ago there were not many supermarkets for expats. Now we have Friendship,Foodmart,and Tesco Lotus. Even Macro is 10 times better than Foodland. 

2 hours ago, possum1931 said:

Foodmart are even worse than Villa for their prices, well they were the last time I was in it, would

never go back.

 I think their prices are very reasonable overall, especially for fruit and vegetables and meat. They have an amazingly good range of stuff, considering the small size of the store - and still give out free plastic bags. It’s crazy that they’re the only supermarket apart from 7-11’s and similar in Jomtien, considering the tens of thousands of condos there. Might be an indication of just how many are empty, and of course Jomtien is a lot more seasonal than Pattaya.

I am not surprised.  It really is not a great location as people do not live down that way.  The store up off Pattaya Klang is better suited and in a better location.

1 hour ago, Max69xl said:

Who needs Foodland? When they opened ages ago there were not many supermarkets for expats. Now we have Friendship,Foodmart,and Tesco Lotus. Even Macro is 10 times better than Foodland. 

 

The empty Foodland plot on Theprasit is a great location and think a store would be a success as it would service all the local condos in that immediate area and lots of the traffic passing up and down the road as the original location on Klang does.

 

Shame about the Royal Garden location but it was too hidden tucked away in the basement.

 

 

The branch at T21 required some significant investment. Seems to be doing great, so guess they figured they didn't need the RG branch. Not profitable enough, if at all. The sorts of customers I saw in there, never many, were more 7/11 tourist types. The resto, TookLaeDee, offered some value to low budget tourists but was too hidden, nobody knew about it.

17 minutes ago, JimmyTheMook said:

The empty Foodland plot on Theprasit is a great location and think a store would be a success as it would service all the local condos in that immediate area and lots of the traffic passing up and down the road as the original location on Klang does.

As an owner of a condo in that area, I agree.  But, they would need a decent sized parking lot to supplement the locals with those driving in from farther out.  

7 minutes ago, wpcoe said:

As an owner of a condo in that area, I agree.  But, they would need a decent sized parking lot to supplement the locals with those driving in from farther out.  

Looks like a big plot but from last looks condo developments are going up around it now so who know the fate of that sole sign saying Foodland still sitting there.

11 minutes ago, wpcoe said:

As an owner of a condo in that area, I agree.  But, they would need a decent sized parking lot to supplement the locals with those driving in from farther out.  

In your opinion, what's the current occupancy rate of condo's in that area?

5 hours ago, JimmyTheMook said:

Looks like a big plot but from last looks condo developments are going up around it now so who know the fate of that sole sign saying Foodland still sitting there.

Luciano condo will be built besides that planned “foodland”  On Theprasit. Its suppose to be an chinese condo project but seems they waiting approval permits for years now or other delays?

10 hours ago, Leaver said:

In your opinion, what's the current occupancy rate of condo's in that area?

Hard to say.

I have a condo in View Talay 5, one of the more popular buildings in the area. I’d guess that even at the height of high season, it’s nowhere near half full, and has very few people in low season, when Jomtien’s pretty much deserted except for weekends. It’s that strong seasonality that would make it hard for a big supermarket to survive.

On 2/29/2020 at 10:47 AM, ivor bigun said:

,lets face it wheras years ago Royal Garden was a go to place ,those days are long gone

 

 

22 hours ago, possum1931 said:

Foodmart are even worse than Villa for their prices, well they were the last time I was in it, would

never go back.

Difficult to import food and then sell it as reasonable prices. These stores are for wealthier people.

22 minutes ago, lust said:

Difficult to import food and then sell it as reasonable prices. These stores are for wealthier people.

If you can't afford to buy stuff at Foodmart or Friendship should you really stay here long term? No one fills a trolley,they buy some stuff they really want. 

3 hours ago, lust said:

These stores are for wealthier people.

The little Foodmart at Jomtien’s patronised heavily by Russians - and I don’t think they’re Russian oligarchs.

3 hours ago, lust said:

Difficult to import food and then sell it as reasonable prices. These stores are for wealthier people.

Then why could Foodland sell tins of corn beef for 179Bt and Villa sell the same brand for 325 Bt? and don't forget imported goods should have fallen in price due to the very strong Thai Baht.

lets just be honest here, the main cause is nothing  but pure greed.

On 3/2/2020 at 8:30 AM, Leaver said:

In your opinion, what's the current occupancy rate of condo's in that area?

I have no clue, do you?

On 3/2/2020 at 2:54 AM, allanos said:

Royal Garden lost its good vibe a long time ago.

I last liked it when it still had the movie theater option.

14 hours ago, Max69xl said:

If you can't afford to buy stuff at Foodmart or Friendship should you really stay here long term? No one fills a trolley,they buy some stuff they really want. 

My post was about FoodLand/Villa. I don’t know what Foodmart or Friendship is. 

Edited March 3, 20206 yr by lust

23 hours ago, CygnusX1 said:

It’s that strong seasonality that would make it hard for a big supermarket to survive.

Also, making long term visas for expats harder to obtain wouldn't help.