Carrefour Getting Out Of SE Asia

[bkkjames]

I went shopping in this place yesterday and purchased a fair amount (4k).

However it took longer to get through the cashier than the actually shopping as about every 4th item it seemed needed to have the code manually entered as the bar codes weren't working.

While in bitch mode, why is it that these types of hypermarkets (all, not just cf) don't have some kind of paper towel / alcohol near the meat / seafood sections to clean your hands once you have picked up a raw / leaky item? Same goes at the checkout when you need to pick it up again. Nothing available to clean your hands.

Not only that the checkout gal will grab your leaky chicken package with her bare hands then procede to grab another bag and non fresh items without cleaning her hands.

Ok rant over

[nong38]

I found Carrefour in France with not many bargains so was never tempted to go there. Tesco here is not like Tesco UK which is no bad thing but as there is little or no bargains to be had (every little helps) I find it a dissappointing, as said drinks isle is appauling and service is a sham, never seen more than 2 tills open, so I hope they dont get the Carrefour. Cant see Big C going for it as they have really just about covered Tesco, not worth the effort to pick up the extra trade, take to long to get their investment back. Japanese? Not sure they are popular enough as a nation here to attract people in. I think maybe we are looking at PTT a new player, if they can get the right people in to turn it around they could do well as we all know there is planty of room for improvement in this sector and the first one to understand that, get the staff to understand what they are about and actually do it could make it work to there advantage. Its no good doing just enough which is what we have at the moment or indeed what we have always done.

How many times have you been to Big C and seen loads of staff lolling about in electrical, sitting on the floor filling shelves and when you get to the checkouts only 1/3rd open and long queues?

This is an opportunity for someone, I will go back to sleep now perchance to dream......................

[jybkk]

I never knew, i cant understand why theyre so f'en useless then .. is it huge import taxes on food products, lack of food producers in the area or just Thais like eating only a few different things.

My guess is the third one.

Most of Thais are very conservative when it comes to food.

[chainarong]

Bottom line is profits, the big dollar, salute the green back and stable government, two winners in the investment stakes.

[JimmyTheMook]

Bottom line is profits, the big dollar, salute the green back and stable government, two winners in the investment stakes.

Bottom line is Thailand is a nightmare to do business in as a foreign company , Nike totally upped their operations that were based here when they realized the squeeze was not worth the juice.

[SamritT]

French going home? Only Carrefour? What a disappointment.

[wandrinstar]

.Why remove such a well know signThe Tesco Lotus landmark sign has been removed, and replaced by some Thai Squiggly sign in Phitsanulok.Why remove a well known landmark used asa a meeting place????

[Angkar]

Bottom line is Thailand is a nightmare to do business in as a foreign company , Nike totally upped their operations that were based here when they realized the squeeze was not worth the juice.

Fully agree and they're gonna pay the price for this before or later.

The real news should be in fact that the world nr.2 supermarket chain is getting out of Thailand because of sinking profits,

burocracy, increasing red tape, mafia, corruption, and who knows what the other ugly reasons they had in store to

take this step.

Financially it makes perfect sense to focus on China where they're the leading player by a far margin and

investing in India where the market is booming.

India's supermarkets are in terrible shape at the moment, i think Carrefour will have an easy game conquering

the market in a few years especially now that more and more indians are buying a car and need ample parking

lots.

Thailand is only good at screwing potential investors and this is even more true for small entrepreneurs.

Just think about how hard is to buy land or home here and the hassle to get a long term visa or hire a farang...

China is light years ahead of Thailand and same goes for Malaysia and Singapore obviously who welcome

farang investors with open arms.

No idea why Walmart has no plans for Thailand but i'm afraid they must have very very good reasons

and this once again proves that Thailand is a sinking boat.

Blame their greedyness or their "thainess" or boat but the future is bleak : first it's tourism going down

the drain, then investors leaving thailand for greener pastures, next it will be factories moving to Laos, Cambodia

and Vietnam and leaving here millions of unemployeds.

As a small entrepreneur i just can't see a single reason to base my business in Thailand and at the moment

i'm planning to back to China.

[PatLogan]

As a small entrepreneur i just can't see a single reason to base my business in Thailand and at the moment

i'm planning to back to China.

Interesting comment. When you say "back" to China, do you mean going back there or move there from Thailand without having established a business there.

Honestly, unless you want to access the Chinese market, I don't see a single reason to base a business there rather than in Thailand.

[chainarong]

Bottom line is profits, the big dollar, salute the green back and stable government, two winners in the investment stakes.

Bottom line is Thailand is a nightmare to do business in as a foreign company , Nike totally upped their operations that were based here when they realized the squeeze was not worth the juice.

Yeah agree,except for Singapore and Hong Kong the rest of Asia are ordinary, Indonesia is probably the worst, unless you are with the in crowd, China is totaly difficult and stupid.

[rubl]

Fully agree and they're gonna pay the price for this before or later.

The real news should be in fact that the world nr.2 supermarket chain is getting out of Thailand because of sinking profits,

burocracy, increasing red tape, mafia, corruption, and who knows what the other ugly reasons they had in store to

take this step.

a few following paragraphs removed, not relevant for my reply

The OP and the original one from months (?) ago mentions Carrefour to get out of South-East Asia. That means including Thailand, not only. No details as to why. It may be because of limited earnings / profits, it may be a strategic withdrawal as larger companies regularly do.

[PatLogan]

Fully agree and they're gonna pay the price for this before or later.

The real news should be in fact that the world nr.2 supermarket chain is getting out of Thailand because of sinking profits,

burocracy, increasing red tape, mafia, corruption, and who knows what the other ugly reasons they had in store to

take this step.

a few following paragraphs removed, not relevant for my reply

The OP and the original one from months (?) ago mentions Carrefour to get out of South-East Asia. That means including Thailand, not only. No details as to why. It may be because of limited earnings / profits, it may be a strategic withdrawal as larger companies regularly do.

By SE Asia, they mean Singapore (2 stores), Malaysia (19) and Thailand (40), but not Indonesia (76 stores). The have 400+ stores in China, where they fight for dominance with Wal-Mart. By comparison they are only 4th in the retail market in Thailand. So i guess it is all up to stretegy.

Carrefour has not officially announced they planed to sell, the last official statement was about global 1st half income. The increase in business in Asia was said to be 28%, thanks to China and... Thailand

[astral]

It maybe that the customers in Thailand do not meet the Walmart standards.

See http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/?page_id=9798&paged=5

and many others.......

[schmutzie]

Well, I've heard it's Big C that are getting it. But then read that PTT were in the running too now. I don't know now.

I think it doesn't make any sense for Tesco Lotus as they already have large stores both in Lat Phrao and Ratchada in Bangkok. Big C doesn't AFAIK have a big shop in Ratchada

and the one in Lat Phrao is quite far down the road from Carrefour. Don't know about other locations.

As for the Thai branches I wonder who owns the land/properties and what happens to the many auxiliary businesses that are tangled with the Carrefour complexes, eg. Home Pro?

What about the sub-retailers within Carrefour itself?

I like Carrefour but not all their shops seem of equal standard. The best thing is that they seem to have a good range between cheap and expensive, so you have a choice depending on

budget, and you can at least find a few organic or falang-style foods if you get a bit home sick. Not to say you can't get that elsewhere, but usually at a significant mark-up.

[tomyummer]

Too bad. I think Carrefour has a better selection of things than the others. Kind of like comparing a Walmart versus Target. I wish Target would come here. That's the segment that's missing here in Thailand.

Edited September 3, 2010 by tomyummer

[basjke]

It maybe that the customers in Thailand do not meet the Walmart standards.

See http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/?page_id=9798&paged=5

and many others.......

What you're talking.I'm sure most of those pictures have been taken somewhere in Pattaya.

[elcent]

it will be run like MBK maybe? Renting out slices of space, kinda garage sales?

[andyww]

Financially it makes perfect sense to focus on China where they're the leading player by a far margin and

investing in India where the market is booming.

India's supermarkets are in terrible shape at the moment, i think Carrefour will have an easy game conquering

the market in a few years especially now that more and more indians are buying a car and need ample parking

lots.

Its virtually impossible for foreigners to invest on a large scale in India. Its almost completely a closed market.