Ubon Square Development Near Big C

[ubonrthai]

Big changes are happening all around Big C in Ubon thanks to the "Ubon Square" (อุบลสแควร์) development directly South of the store. All the restaurants that used to be there have been moved to the East side of Big C and all the stores on the West side (gold, computer and cell phone shops) are gone.

The development will be an open air strip mall with a food court, children's play area and other restaurants. A 24 hour McDonalds will be very close to the 7-11 along Chayangkhun Rd. It's scheduled to be completed on December 15, 2012 and at the rate they've been building, I wouldn't be surprised if they were done sooner. I visited their office and had a flip through the construction plans. The only restaurants that seem to be confirmed are a McDonalds which has it's own separate store and then yet another KFC, MK and Japanese restaurant in the same facility together. There is also a picture of a Sizzler on one page though Sizzler won't confirm anything. There are rumors of a Starbucks but I haven't found any confirmation of that yet.

I'll post more info and try to get confirmation on stores and restaurants when the project manager calls me back. For more pictures check out here, here and here.

Amazing how fast Ubon is growing. There are new housing developments all over the place, Sunee is wrapping up it's expansion, Central is on the way and now this.

Edited May 10, 2012 by ubonrthai

[bergen]

Good news!

[AliasJohn]

Sizzler have confirmed they will not be at Ubon square. The only confirmation is Macas. Even KFC and MK have not confirmed. Both of the later have shops inside Big C and this was the reason they not confirm as yet. Black Canyon have expressed interest and a coffee chain from Bkk called Tom and Toms have expressed interest. The rent per square metre is quiet high @ 1200THB a metre. One big down side could be the fact that it is open air. Nothing like walking around a plaza on a day in April at 40 degrees....Central would be more comfortable for sure.

Edited May 10, 2012 by AliasJohn

[phibunmike]

Oh dear, McDonald's in Ubon . Time to move on ????

[zzaa09]

Good news!

For some...perhaps.

Development. Ain't it grand?

[jamescollister]

Oh dear, McDonald's in Ubon . Time to move on ????

Thankfully the kids aren't on the net yet, big Macs and the plastcc play grounds. Like farther Xmas they believe it is only in Australia. Jim

[SantiSuk]

Odd that it would be economic to build a one storey shopping centre (that seeems to be the implication of the mock-up picture) over such a broad area inside the ring road on the Western side. Ubon land prices cant be that high then?

Or could it be that the developer has got it all wrong and will struggle to get tennants at a rental level sufficient to make an economic return on the investment?

My moneys on the latter. But the developer willl probably sell the thing in 5 years time at a vast profit and someone will knock it all down again for a higher rise commercial/housing development.

[ubonrthai]

According to BP, purchasing power in Ubon is high so I bet it does pretty well.

[SantiSuk]

What are they smoking?

"While purchasing power in Ubon Ratchathani is high, only Robinson Department Store has tapped the market. Robinson also plans to open a second branch some time next year." They should try visiting Robinson on the average weekday if they think purchasing power is high in Ubon.

The only large outlets in Ubon that seem to have a customer base up to a level that you would think might make a profitable operation are Ubon Watsadu, Big C (not Warin) and Tesco. Maybe Thai retail is all a massive drug money laundering operation! OK - being more realistic it smacks of very cheap borrowing costs coming from somewhere (China?). Does anyone out there make any sense of all this, am I just an old stuck-in-the-mud who can't see a good investement opportunity when I see one?

There's not much sense celebrating it all if it's going to crash to earth and leave several white elephants destroying any developmental impetus in years to come.

Edited June 16, 2012 by SantiSuk

[MeMock]

What are they smoking?

Maybe Thai retail is all a massive drug money laundering operation!

Shhhhhhh.......

[downtown]

never seen robinsons remotely busy. plus they have that typically annoying habit of pouncing on you while you are trying to browse

[mike123ca]

That's the strange thing, I don't understand how they say Ubon has purchasing power.

My impression (and Yes, I can be wrong) is Ubon is just a small government town mostly of medical, police, air force and teachers. Most of the other people are working in retail or outside jobs. Many of these jobs are in the 200 baht a day category.

Where will these customers be coming from Laos, Cambodia or China?

[ubonjoe]

Laos is big already and more is expected after 2015.

You have to remember that people from the entire province travel to Ubon City for shopping along with those from nearby provinces.

[elwood]

Laos is big already and more is expected after 2015.

You have to remember that people from the entire province travel to Ubon City for shopping along with those from nearby provinces.

That's a good point. Also I don't understand all this pessimism about the Ubon projects. The Central group of companies are hardly mugs at this game, and as you wrote earlier, they would have done extensive research before committing finances to new projects. Nothing is for certain, but I would rather go along with their track record than speculation from outsiders.

And yes, it has already been stated that they will be targeting customers from neighbouring countries.

As for comments before about Big-C and Tesco - they seem to be selling well whenever I go there; and how about the packed aisles in Big-C over the weekends?

[ubonrthai]

What are they smoking?

Maybe Thai retail is all a massive drug money laundering operation!

Shhhhhhh.......

That's what all the Top Charoen optical stores are!

[ubonrthai]

Still all speculation. We're basing our opinions of the local economy on how many people we see on our shopping trips. Haha. Who is going to the statistics office to get us some facts?

[downtown]

if laos are such big spenders, then why are folk worried about the expansion of the Asean group, with proposals over right to work throughout Asean, ala the EU.

[SantiSuk]

Laos is big already and more is expected after 2015.

You have to remember that people from the entire province travel to Ubon City for shopping along with those from nearby provinces.

That's a good point. Also I don't understand all this pessimism about the Ubon projects. The Central group of companies are hardly mugs at this game, and as you wrote earlier, they would have done extensive research before committing finances to new projects. Nothing is for certain, but I would rather go along with their track record than speculation from outsiders.

And yes, it has already been stated that they will be targeting customers from neighbouring countries.

As for comments before about Big-C and Tesco - they seem to be selling well whenever I go there; and how about the packed aisles in Big-C over the weekends?

Elwood would rather trust Thai planning than the opinions of sceptical old farts on Thai Visa. Give that man an award! How refreshing.

Sceptical old fart.

[elwood]

Laos is big already and more is expected after 2015.

You have to remember that people from the entire province travel to Ubon City for shopping along with those from nearby provinces.

That's a good point. Also I don't understand all this pessimism about the Ubon projects. The Central group of companies are hardly mugs at this game, and as you wrote earlier, they would have done extensive research before committing finances to new projects. Nothing is for certain, but I would rather go along with their track record than speculation from outsiders.

And yes, it has already been stated that they will be targeting customers from neighbouring countries.

As for comments before about Big-C and Tesco - they seem to be selling well whenever I go there; and how about the packed aisles in Big-C over the weekends?

Elwood would rather trust Thai planning than the opinions of sceptical old farts on Thai Visa. Give that man an award! How refreshing.

Sceptical old fart.

Yes, I would rather trust planning by a successful company like Central against the opinions of expats who most likely have never been involved in planning such a project. Incidentally, have you read much about Central making major cock-ups in their business ventures?

Also, although a Central project, don't forget that all the other businesses that will be based in the place will also have done their homework; so are they all going to be wrong too?

Elwood - sometimes sceptical but always an old fart.

[jay-uk]

There are occasional postings on the thread below (In Thai) about the Ubon Sq & Central Plaza Developments. FB also has a page dedicated to projects around the city if anyone is interested to have thier partner translate some of the content. Google translate also helps to get an idea of what they are talking about on both sites:

http://www.facebook.com/Ubonratchathani.Movingforward

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=92515449

[ubonrthai]

A few pics of recent work. The 7-11 on Chayangkhun is now gone.

[ubonrthai]

Ubon Square doesn't officially open until the end of the year but some of the small shops are already opening as they are being finished. The phone shops to the West of Big C are opening back up too.

[sirchai]

Great news!?/ .Trying to tell our son what junk food is all about.

And he really wants to meet Ronald Mc Donald in person.

"I'd like three super sized Big Macs, with tripled artificial cheese, two gallons coke, 2 kg French fries with 3 kg fat and some rotten muffins. To go, please"

Can't see those fat chicks sitting there-----------

Edited September 6, 2012 by sirchai

[ubonrthai]

The new sign.

[ubonrthai]

24 hour drive-thru McDonalds.

[ubonrthai]

[ubonrthai]

[ubonrthai]

Edited December 2, 2012 by ubonrthai

[ubonrthai]

[ubonrthai]

Open!