The Korat Mall - How do the shops survive

[kaorop]

On 15/1/2017 at 1:56 PM, Once Bitten said:

 

No matter where the opticians shop is situated , Mall or small rural village the view is all ways the same , its empty . 

 

 

 

 

 

Actually I often find the view quite pleasant, if you get my drift.

 

I hypothesize that many business are subsidized by large family companies with buckets of money and they dont want to lose face with the other families with buckets of money by closing places

[bentarm44]

The Mall has a small outlet, close to the food supermarket, that sells booze and tobacco. 

For years I bought 50gm pouches of Drum Light Blue hand rolling tobacco there.

Around October last year, having once again ran out of duty free, I went there to buy some.

They have none, only Drum Dark Blue. I've asked again twice since then; with the same result.

My attempts at clarification wrt re-order; expected re-stock etc were (obviously) met with the upturned face distortion combined with the "huh ?" noise.

Anyone out there know of any place in Korat Town selling Drum Light Blue ??

T 21 seems to have no booze/tobac outlet at all; is that right ?

[Once Bitten]

This comment is not related to the Mall , but Klang Plaza .

 

I had not ventured into Klang Plaza since the first few weeks after its big renovation , so I thought I would go back and have a look around the mobile phone / electronics floor.

 

What a shock.

 

Vast empty retail sales spaces and venders closed down and gone , endless empty sales areas and those remaining well known chain shops / small sales counters , all seemed to be staffed with desperate sales assistants looking for elusive customers .

 

Whats going on , can the retail rents be that high or rental contracts be that untouchable .

 

While I was wondering around the floor area I could count the number of obvious customers on both hands. Something did not feel right about the place .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What am I missing ?

[sinbin]

I was in Terminal 21 last week and as I walked around I saw no reason why I'd want to ever go back to that Mall. Parking the car there was a dream.

 

Just as a side note. The Makro in Korat can take a hike as well. The new one opposite 'Do Home' heading for route 24 puts it to shame.

Edited April 11, 2017 by sinbin

[starky]

On 13/01/2017 at 7:53 PM, seancbk said:

Population of Bangkok around 8 million. 

Let's assume 10% of the population wear glasses or contact lenses.   That would be 800,000 people (+/-)

 

Let's just talk about the contact lens wearers and for the purposes of this discussion say its 50% of the above number.   That give us 400,000 people (+/-)

 

OK so that it is 400,000 people who need to buy lens fluid and replacement (disposable lenses) regularly.   Lets say once a month.

400,000 people shopping once a month, but spread over the month is 400,000 / 30 = 13,300 customers a day in Bangkok.  

I know there are a lot of places they can buy their lens fluid and lenses, but 13,300 customers a day in Bangkok alone is still huge sales.   

Figure average customer purchase of 300 THB a month (actually I'd guess much more but we'll keep it low for now)   400,000 x 300 THB = 120 Million THB per month on contact lens fluid and lenses.


120 million THB in revenue is a conservative estimate for the business volume of contact lens related business in Bangkok during a single month.

So yeah I wonder how they stay in business.


 

I think your 10% is very conservative and that wouldnt even cover those who actually need lenses for sight correction. What's the percentage for those that just wear colour contacts cos they think it looks good? ( it doesn't!) speaking of which how good would it be to be an orthodontist in Thailand? Got people lining up around the block who don't even need braces and don't get me started on noses and bleached skin.

[seancbk]

19 minutes ago, starky said:

On 1/13/2017 at 6:53 PM, seancbk said:

Population of Bangkok around 8 million. 

Let's assume 10% of the population wear glasses or contact lenses.   That would be 800,000 people (+/-)

 

Let's just talk about the contact lens wearers and for the purposes of this discussion say its 50% of the above number.   That give us 400,000 people (+/-)

 

OK so that it is 400,000 people who need to buy lens fluid and replacement (disposable lenses) regularly.   Let's say once a month.

400,000 people shopping once a month, but spread over the month is 400,000 / 30 = 13,300 customers a day in Bangkok.  

I know there are a lot of places they can buy their lens fluid and lenses, but 13,300 customers a day in Bangkok alone is still huge sales.   

Figure average customer purchase of 300 THB a month (actually I'd guess much more but we'll keep it low for now)   400,000 x 300 THB = 120 Million THB per month on contact lens fluid and lenses.


120 million THB in revenue is a conservative estimate for the business volume of contact lens related business in Bangkok during a single month.

So yeah I wonder how they stay in business.


 

I think your 10% is very conservative and that wouldnt even cover those who actually need lenses for sight correction. What's the percentage for those that just wear colour contacts cos they think it looks good? ( it doesn't!) speaking of which how good would it be to be an orthodontist in Thailand? Got people lining up around the block who don't even need braces and don't get me started on noses and bleached skin.

 

Yes, I was being conservative. 

In reality the numbers are much higher, especially when you include fashion contacts (coloured) and glasses.  

Maybe 500 million THB a month in Bangkok for optical products?   Of course it could be more and we are still only talking about Bangkok.







 

[janclaes47]

On 1/15/2017 at 1:56 PM, Once Bitten said:

Could a Thai small business owner be under such enormous personal pressure ( not loosing face ) that even if their shop is constantly not making a profit , or breaking even , they will keep the failing business afloat by any means , even if they have to keep paying out of their own pockets to keep the shops door open

I don't think so, but a Thai can survive on much less than a foreigner.

 

First of all he can work himself, and his living expenses can be just a fraction of what we are used to.

 

I can imagine that if a Thai shop owner makes an average net profit of 15k a month he doesn't feel the need to close the shutters.

[Nice Boyd]

There are many scratch your head in wonderment Thailand related mysteries that we all come across , but these shop business that seem to constantly have no or very few customers and must be paying their monthly over heads , and yet they still seem to be open month after month  , is one mystery that makes no sense , I know that some of the shops belong to large retail chain organization and they may be subsidized in some way , but even so you would think in this competitive retail environment , there must come a time when enough is enough and the shop has to close . But how do the small independent retail shops that can be found in all shopping malls keep going when its plainly obvious that they must be suffering from the constant lack of customers and profit , yet they just keep going .
 
Surely you would think that if the shop owner has enough capital to start a business in a shopping mall , they have first done and laid out a business plan / forecast and have the retail knowledge and brains to succeed , before committing them selves to a rental contract .
 
Not far from my house there's been a gang of building workmen , constructing a large row of shuttered front shop houses ,  the investment must be in the millions . Yet directly across the road from this new construction , is a nearly identical row of shop houses that has been there you several years , yet only one of the units there seems to be occupied , the rest remain still empty from day one.  So why would you invest millions in building new shop houses , when across the road stands old empty units that no one seemed to want to rent .
 
Its Beyond me   or what am I missing ?
 

Chinese Black money buys those shophouses all over Thailand they sit Empty, I think they would be great to start a lil business with but Thais don't like them


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[SpokaneAl]

I was in Terminal 21 last week and as I walked around I saw no reason why I'd want to ever go back to that Mall. Parking the car there was a dream.
 
Just as a side note. The Makro in Korat can take a hike as well. The new one opposite 'Do Home' heading for route 24 puts it to shame.

The new Makro is another one that I hope makes it. Each time we go, the parking lot is almost empty - which makes for easy, relaxed parking - and there are not many customers shopping. The other Makro seems to always be packed with people, as is the Tesco down the road from the new Makro.


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[Once Bitten]

Just how many huge shopping malls can Korat sustain  , Ive been to most of them on different days and times , and nearly always the majority of shops seem to be void of customers , the banks seem to be fairly busy as are the Ais / True Move / Detac shops , the gold shops seem to have a few customers , the food courts seem to be keeping busy but look at the majority of stand alone restaurants and the tables are constantly empty , glance into any opticians shop and you see a few staff but no customers. Now the furniture shops , with their vast floor areas of stock and empty aisles is another head scratcher .

 

 

And now Korat is getting yet another mega shopping mall, CentralPlaza 

 

Now I know that retail competition is good for the consumer, but when every shopping mall is full to the brim with the same brand name outlets , the same shops selling the exact same product or services , the over all shopping experience in these new outlets must eventually wear off .

 

So how many more shopping outlets can Korat take .  How do these shops that seem to have very few customers manage to survive and stay open 

 

 

 

[Once Bitten]

Well Ive just been on my first visit to the new CentralPlaza  shopping complex in Korat along with some friends who are on holiday here . Again fantastic and dazzling chrome and glass shops and floor lay outs with quality retail stores and food places . But again like in all the other Korat Malls as you wander around  it soon becomes obvious that a vast number of these shops are constantly void of customers just endless bored looking staff guarding the shops entrance . 

 

Again I scratch my head in total disbelief at all these constantly empty retail outlet and again wonder how they can keep surviving when the floor space rent must be astronomical and the cash registers are never ringing. Just think about it , huge floor space rents plus droves of staff all needing monthly salaries add to that the utility costs and public liability insurance plus the cost of stocking the outlet and transportation , the overhead costs just go on and on . So again how do they seem to stay in business , whats the magic formula , what am I missing 
 

[seancbk]

4 hours ago, Once Bitten said:

Well Ive just been on my first visit to the new CentralPlaza  shopping complex in Korat along with some friends who are on holiday here . Again fantastic and dazzling chrome and glass shops and floor lay outs with quality retail stores and food places . But again like in all the other Korat Malls as you wander around  it soon becomes obvious that a vast number of these shops are constantly void of customers just endless bored looking staff guarding the shops entrance . 

 

Again I scratch my head in total disbelief at all these constantly empty retail outlet and again wonder how they can keep surviving when the floor space rent must be astronomical and the cash registers are never ringing. Just think about it , huge floor space rents plus droves of staff all needing monthly salaries add to that the utility costs and public liability insurance plus the cost of stocking the outlet and transportation , the overhead costs just go on and on . So again how do they seem to stay in business , whats the magic formula , what am I missing 
 

 

As with retails all over the world, you cannot get an accurate estimate of their business volume without counting how many customers they get over a 1 month, 3 month and 6 month period. 

My family had shops in HK and would have days with no customers for the first 6 hours, then have one customer come in and spend 50,000 baht.    Had you walked past at anytime during the first 6 hours you'd have thought we made no money.   But we made plenty when averaged over a month.   

 

[Once Bitten]

I did think some thing like that may be an answer but when you look at most of the shops and retail spaces in these shopping malls they are huge and for them to make up for the constant lack of customer business for most of the time they would need to be over flowing with paying customers at some time and I have never ever seen any of these shops over flowing with paying customers . The other thing is that many of these vast constantly empty shops sell low to medium cost items like clothes , shoes and trinkets so no big sale items to make up for the on going lack of customers . 

 

I would love to hear from any one who has actually walked by any of these large mall retail shops and thought to them selves , wow they look busy 

[simoh1490]

11 hours ago, Once Bitten said:

Well Ive just been on my first visit to the new CentralPlaza  shopping complex in Korat along with some friends who are on holiday here . Again fantastic and dazzling chrome and glass shops and floor lay outs with quality retail stores and food places . But again like in all the other Korat Malls as you wander around  it soon becomes obvious that a vast number of these shops are constantly void of customers just endless bored looking staff guarding the shops entrance . 

 

Again I scratch my head in total disbelief at all these constantly empty retail outlet and again wonder how they can keep surviving when the floor space rent must be astronomical and the cash registers are never ringing. Just think about it , huge floor space rents plus droves of staff all needing monthly salaries add to that the utility costs and public liability insurance plus the cost of stocking the outlet and transportation , the overhead costs just go on and on . So again how do they seem to stay in business , whats the magic formula , what am I missing 
 

We have several malls in Chiang Mai, one of which has been open for about five years I would guess and still has almost no customers. It started off with a couple of high profile brand name stores which quickly moved out plus the usual array of lesser names, even Immigration moved in for a while whilst waiting for their new building to be constructed. The movie theatre does some business, ditto an American style restaurant and a large local supermarket - KFC, Boots and an electronics store follow up the rear. The format of the mall is changing, there's plenty of space available for would be shopkeepers etc but there are few takers since the location appears to not be attractive to the bigger names, instead, evening music and food stall entertainment seem to be the money earner. I'm told by a reliable source that the mall was a gift from a wealthy business owner to his daughter but I doubt it even breaks even. Another possibility that shouldn't be overlooked is that such places are a great way to wash money, after all, who would build such a place at a time when two other major malls were being built within five kilometres, including a major Central Festival!

[Once Bitten]

   

 

 

The building of even more mega shopping malls within spitting distance of each other does make you wonder . This is a photo at a Tesco Lotus store advertising a small sales space out side the building . If its 9,000 Baht a month for such a tiny area then how much is the rent for all these large mall shops ,   it boggles the mind . 

 

 

 

[seancbk]

6 hours ago, Once Bitten said:

   

 

 

The building of even more mega shopping malls within spitting distance of each other does make you wonder . This is a photo at a Tesco Lotus store advertising a small sales space out side the building . If its 9,000 Baht a month for such a tiny area then how much is the rent for all these large mall shops ,   it boggles the mind . 

 

 

 

 

Where is this?   I'm looking for 10 or more spaces like this.

 

 

[Once Bitten]

3 hours ago, seancbk said:

 

Where is this?   I'm looking for 10 or more spaces like this.

 

 

 

The photo was taken at the Tesco Lotus store in Korat ( The one opposite side of the road from the Mall ) The photograph was taken some weeks ago . My wife was there today and now the rental cost has been reduced to 8,100 Baht per month 

 

I spotted some small out side pull down the front lock up units for rent at another Tesco Lotus ( Chok Chai ) at 200 Baht per day . 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 19, 2018 by Once Bitten