What Is Happening To Nana ? Starbucks , Bookazine, And Foodland Shutdown

[morrobay]

Nana in Decline : First Starbucks then Bookazine and now Foodland Sukhumvit Soi 5 have shut down.What is going on?.

[nocturn]

nana is soi 4.

And it is not decline, it is renovation.

[BugJackBaron]

nana is soi 4.

And it is not decline, it is renovation.

Let's hope the renovation does not mean replacing foodland with a crappy tops.

Starbucks already has 2 other stores in the immediate area. So no great loss.

[PattayaParent]

nana is soi 4.

And it is not decline, it is renovation.

Let's hope the renovation does not mean replacing foodland with a crappy tops.

Starbucks already has 2 other stores in the immediate area. So no great loss.

if those 2 were to go as well still no great loss

[djayz]

What a pity... I just love going up to Nana for a good cup of over-priced p*ss... eh, sorry I mean Starbucks "coffee"... I used to sit there for hours sipping my coffee. Nana just won't be Nana without Starbucks.

[hhgz]

"Nana in Decline..."

Why are you assuming that the renovations of several businesses could be considered as a "decline"?

[detectivethai]

that area has been reclaimed by landowner to open a new hotel complex to begin construction asap. i hope it is more upmarket as the area has been deteriorating rapidly in the last few years.

[WhizBang]

How about getting rid of all the sidewalk vendors on that stretch?  Now that would be a real improvement.

Amen to that.

[jfchandler]

There's another thread here just on the Foodland Soi 5 issue...

By various reports there, they're just closed temporarily for renovations, and are supposed to reopen by the end of this calendar year...

[sabaijai]

Temporary closing of Foodland Soi 5:

[zzaa09]

"Nana in Decline..."

Why are you assuming that the renovations of several businesses could be considered as a "decline"?

I might question this, as well. The examples that were given {foodland, starbucks, bookazine} all had a nice little consistence business flow working for them in that particular neighborhood.......lower Suk has gone through a number of changes and renovations, here and there, yet never shows signs of disappearing. Where there is a market....

[detectivethai]

Foodland has been relocated to Thonglor. I repeat , a new hotel will be built over the old site.

[Sateev]

"Nana in Decline..."

Why are you assuming that the renovations of several businesses could be considered as a "decline"?

For those of you who just arrived (from the land of the big, UP-market shopping mall), "decline" refers to the fading away of what was left of the charm of the area. Too new to remember Thermae, before it was 'renovated', too new to remember Bharani's, too new to know much about the area, other than being able to find Subway, Starbucks, and McDonalds.

Too many new UP-market hotels replacing family businesses, IMHO.

Not knocking newbies, but just explaining why SOME of us see this as a loss.

[samran]

'Decline' would imply the area had further to fall...

How to you fall further when you are already in the gutter?

Here's to gentrification!!

[jfchandler]

Foodland has been relocated to Thonglor. I repeat , a new hotel will be built over the old site.

I'm a regular customer of the Soi 5 store, and I wanted to settle the continuing speculation about this... So this morning, I called Foodland's main corporate office in Lad Prao, and after a couple phone transfers, ended up speaking in English with a company manager there....

He confirmed that the Soi 5 store is NOT being closed, and that the general information most people here have received is correct, that the Soi 5 store is being renovated and will reopen in the same building, with the Thai time schedule being late this year...

The manager I spoke with also noted that the staff of the Soi 5 store has been relocated to the new Foodland Thong Lo store... So perhaps that's part of the reason for the mistaken comments in Detective's post... But the manager confirmed that the Soi 5 store staff are there temporarily and will be moving back to the Soi 5 store when the work there is completed.

The manager I spoke with was very definitive on the subject... no equivocating.... He said they definitely will be keeping and reopening the Soi 5 store, and was surprised to hear that there are rumors about its closure.

[KimoMax]

None of the places mentioned were there near Nana area in the early - mid 90's. Only a Mcdonald's down the road on Sukhumvit. No other big western food restaurants or othr fast food. No 7-11's. If you wanted Western Cigarettes, you had to buy them from a street vendor.

Only mom and pop little convenient markets.

Smile, be happy for the conveniences there today. Used to be real Thailand around there and you knew it.

Edited April 28, 2011 by KimoMax

[rgs2001uk]

None of the places mentioned were there near Nana area in the early - mid 90's. Only a Mcdonald's down the road on Sukhumvit. No other big western food restaurants or othr fast food. No 7-11's. If you wanted Western Cigarettes, you had to buy them from a street vendor.

Only mom and pop little convenient markets.

Smile, be happy for the conveniences there today. Used to be real Thailand around there and you knew it.

My memory must be playing tricks, I remember both Foodland and Bookazine being there in the early '90's.

As for Mcdonalds, if you are talking about the place in the Ploenchit Centre that appeaed circa 1997.

The only western food outlet I remember would have been Tom Quiks diner on soi 4.

Again my memory fades, cant remember the name of the American general (Westmoreland?), however to paraphrase him,

turn the whole area into a parking lot,

its a shithole and you know it.

[trogers]

None of the places mentioned were there near Nana area in the early - mid 90's. Only a Mcdonald's down the road on Sukhumvit. No other big western food restaurants or othr fast food. No 7-11's. If you wanted Western Cigarettes, you had to buy them from a street vendor.

Only mom and pop little convenient markets.

Smile, be happy for the conveniences there today. Used to be real Thailand around there and you knew it.

I remember the Golden Dragon Chinese restaurant between the present Landmark Hotel and the traffic junction of Nana...the days of the late 70s and early 80s...

[siddv]

I miss the bookstore, the Pomodoro restaurant, which while not the best Italian food I've ever eaten...I mean this is BKK!! was a nice place and very convenient and of course my 62 bht American breakfast I liked reading my morning paper from the Landmark and enjoying my breakfast. Hope it returns!!!

[Ulysses G.]

Too new to remember Thermae, before it was 'renovated',

Yes, what a classy place that was!

[AZBill]

Uhhh it's a dump?

[nocturn]

None of the places mentioned were there near Nana area in the early - mid 90's. Only a Mcdonald's down the road on Sukhumvit. No other big western food restaurants or othr fast food. No 7-11's. If you wanted Western Cigarettes, you had to buy them from a street vendor.

Only mom and pop little convenient markets.

Smile, be happy for the conveniences there today. Used to be real Thailand around there and you knew it.

The Asoke market was a delight. Sights, sounds smells and rat population.

[morrobay]

Its a decline in convenience. I appreciated having those 3 places in a concentrated area.

And its not so much the cup of coffee, It was the atmosphere in that Starbucks upstairs with the high glass windows. It was a good place to cool out and look at the city scene.

From my viewpoint renovations are not necessarily improvement. For example I liked the Beergarden Soi 7 atmosphere better in 2002 2003 than after the gingerbread renovation and tree removed.

Like others here have stated there is a charm and atmosphere that gets lost with gentrification . Pattaya and the Lower East Side for examples ,

Im not looking for original Thailand but there is a balance between atmosphere and convenience. Its nice to have both - while they last.

[Geekfreaklover]

From what I understand foodland will be closed for four months. Renovations. What kind of renovations take four months I do not know.

Would be very interested if anyone knows anything about Bookazine, starbucks. Those shophouses on the corner have been empty for some time now. Despite what some may think about the area. It is a prime location for any tourist related business. Can anyone confirm the hotel rumour?

[Sateev]

None of the places mentioned were there near Nana area in the early - mid 90's. Only a Mcdonald's down the road on Sukhumvit. No other big western food restaurants or othr fast food. No 7-11's. If you wanted Western Cigarettes, you had to buy them from a street vendor.

Only mom and pop little convenient markets.

Smile, be happy for the conveniences there today. Used to be real Thailand around there and you knew it.

Foodland and Bookazine were DEFINITELY there mid-'90s. And some of us came to Thailand because we LIKE the 'real Thailand'.

I don't subscribe to the guys who say, "...if you don't like it here, why not go home?", BUT, I didn't come here to live in US-style suburbia. So, if you like Subway, big hotels, and high prices, why not take an extended 'vacation' to the plastic-land you came from?

'nuff said.

[stromasher24]

Haha the old Thermae,

'you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious...' or words to that effect.

Tom Quiks on Soi4 seems to light up a dim bulb somewhere dusty in my mind also.

Anyway would be good to see the Nana area getting a spruce up, its still a prime nightlife spot in the city.

[detectivethai]

Thanks for giving clarity on this and apologies to all as my information was inaccurate. It came from a family member of the landowner but perhaps it was a brag rather than a fact.

Foodland has been relocated to Thonglor. I repeat , a new hotel will be built over the old site.

I'm a regular customer of the Soi 5 store, and I wanted to settle the continuing speculation about this... So this morning, I called Foodland's main corporate office in Lad Prao, and after a couple phone transfers, ended up speaking in English with a company manager there....

He confirmed that the Soi 5 store is NOT being closed, and that the general information most people here have received is correct, that the Soi 5 store is being renovated and will reopen in the same building, with the Thai time schedule being late this year...

The manager I spoke with also noted that the staff of the Soi 5 store has been relocated to the new Foodland Thong Lo store... So perhaps that's part of the reason for the mistaken comments in Detective's post... But the manager confirmed that the Soi 5 store staff are there temporarily and will be moving back to the Soi 5 store when the work there is completed.

The manager I spoke with was very definitive on the subject... no equivocating.... He said they definitely will be keeping and reopening the Soi 5 store, and was surprised to hear that there are rumors about its closure.

[jfchandler]

Detective, just to be clear, I didn't make any comment, nor do I have any info on the issue of a potential hotel project going in around that location. And obviously, something is afoot there because the shops along the Sukhumvit Rd frontage have all been cleared out and closed....

However, the Foodland folks are pretty adamant that their Soi 5 store, located well back from the main road, is staying and will reopen in its current building. So the only thing I can presume, until someone comes along with a better answer, is that whatever project is planned along the main road at Soi 5 will have its rear boundary before it gets so far up the soi to reach Foodland.

I, and others I'm sure, certainly would like to know what's going to be replacing all the shops that used to be on the Suk Road frontage such as Pomodoro and New York Pizza.. And more importantly, if a new hotel or something like it goes it in, what's going to happen to what used to be the thriving freelance scene along the sidewalk there every day... It wasn't just a pizza that you could order to go...