What's going on inside CentralWorld? Lots of boarded up spaces!

[lopburi3]

You remember the old stuff - what happened yesterday may escape you.

[Bangkok Barry]

3 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

I don't think anyone's going to be tearing down CW soon, especially if Central is planning to put - + 2 billion baht into its renovation.

 

But the thing I did wonder about is -- what happens with all the merchants who get booted out of their retail space while Central is doing their re-do?  What happens to their employees during that dead time as well?  And what proportion of the places that get booted out in these kinds of deals eventually end up coming back?

 

In my earlier post, I mentioned the disappearance of the large free-standing, open-air Haagen Dazs shop at CW. I don't know if their recent departure is related to the renovation project or not. But I did ask the info counter girl if they had relocated or anything like that. And she said, no, just closed and gone. FWIW, a Mrs. Fields cookies shop that also was there for a quite a while also disappeared in the past year from CW, and hasn't resurfaced anywhere nearby AFAIK. Though Haagen Dazs has long had another smaller cafe just down the street near the Chidlom BTS station.

 

 

 

A good point. I used to use a travel agent in Silom Centre. They closed that completely for renovation, he moved out and never returned.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

A good point. I used to use a travel agent in Silom Centre. They closed that completely for renovation, he moved out and never returned.

 

Yep, Silom Centre had a long closure period for reno before emerging as Silom Complex.  And more recently, Siam Discovery likewise was entirely closed for a year or more before reopening with a new look.

 

I guess Central decided they didn't want to do that with CentralWorld, perhaps because it already had its extended long closure a few years back, entirely unrelated to retail renovation, but entirely related to domestic political terrorism.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

49 minutes ago, Prometheus33 said:

Quote

The past few trips to Bangkok we have been staying at the Centara Grande @ CentralWorld .. Found it very convenient to nip down to level 7 (I think) for a quick bite at " Sizzlers" .. They are no longer there .. Gone,  as well !!   

 

You'd think with the current levels of disruption and displacement going on, Central might post some kind of information notice to their customers about why their favorite shop/store may have suddenly disappeared when they go looking for it.

 

I went in thru the Chidlom BTS Skywalk entrance, and I didn't see any kind of informational notice / poster / anything anywhere during my time inside.

 

[Bangkok Barry]

17 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

You'd think with the current levels of disruption and displacement going on, Central might post some kind of information notice to their customers about why their favorite shop/store may have suddenly disappeared when they go looking for it.

 

I went in thru the Chidlom BTS Skywalk entrance, and I didn't see any kind of informational notice / poster / anything anywhere during my time inside.

 

 

You're expecting public relations from a Thai business? How long have you been here? 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

8 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

You're expecting public relations from a Thai business? How long have you been here? 

 

Not expecting... Just pointing out the lack thereof...

 

Central is a very large, publicly held company. But then again, so is CP Foods where the university student and 4 would-be rescuers died last week while trying to rescue her from a sewage pond.

 

So no, I don't expect much...

 

[brewsterbudgen]

Haven't been there for some time...does CW have as large a furniture floor as MBK?
 
 

Yes. 5th floor. A bit more expensive than MBK.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

10 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

 

It is not just Amazon type competition but every Thai with a source of things to sell is offering on Facebook these days - and although it is not a central registry of goods it is huge with no overhead (and likely no tax).  

 

The problem with the Facebook-based retail model, IMO, is a pretty serious lack of customer protection. If it's a good seller and you get the product you paid for, that's great.

 

But there are lots of shady folks and sellers out there selling counterfeit merchandise. And even thru Lazada, people end up getting products delivered that are broken or faulty on arrival.  And then, especially in the Facebook model but also with Lazada to a lesser extent perhaps, good luck in trying to get any customer satisfaction.

 

That's where Amazon has killed pretty much everyone else, in that they are totally customer focused, and didn't make a lot of profit for a very long time because they were focused on getting and keeping loyal customers and buyers.  I had an Amazon Fire TV stick die on me once shortly after the year warranty had run. Called Amazon, didn't even have to ask, they volunteered to send me a new one for free.

 

Just recently, aiming to take a bigger chunk of the retail clothing market, Amazon announced a new program in the U.S. where you can buy clothes from them online, and if anything doesn't fit or you don't like it, you can return it no questions asked for a refund in a postage-page box they'll provide. That's the way to gain business, loyal and repeat customers. But try to imagine anyone other than Amazon offering that kind of service in Thailand.

 

[observer90210]

1 hour ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Yes. 5th floor. A bit more expensive than MBK.

Oh good tip, thanks! I could obviously drop by to enquire, but as I am lazy,  would you be aware if either MBK or CW deliver outside Bangkok?

[shanesox]

The economy tanking and rents are ridiculous prices! Happening in malls and Street shops all over Bangkok



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[brewsterbudgen]

The economy tanking and rents are ridiculous prices! Happening in malls and Street shops all over Bangkok



Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

What is? Refurbishment?

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[realenglish1]

13 hours ago, impulse said:

 

I'd be more inclined to believe they're losing customers to all the shiny new malls within a 10-15 minute BTS ride.  Terminal 21 and EmQuartier have to be drawing some customers away who used to pass right by Prom Pong and Asoke to get to Central World.

 

And if Lazada ever gets their act together (or Amazon opens up a facility), I can see a time when all the malls are selling is food, coffee, free air conditioning and a chance to handle the goods before ordering them online at a discount.

 

Its the sign of the Times Competition along with internet sales are having an effect on the older malls Very evident in the USA and other parts of the world Whole malls are closing down So its of no surprise that this trend is happening here They need to do a makeover and add some other features to that mall or game is over soon

[shanesox]

What is? Refurbishment?

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Refurbishment? Umm nope!


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[bangkokairportlink]

I wonder what is the cheapest rent there ?

 

just a booth must be 100k ?

 

 

[Bangkok Barry]

It business is so bad, according to the doom merchants here, why is Central spending so much money refurbishing their stores. Thet did Bang Na a while ago, and now Central World, and there have probably been others I don't know about. thrn there are their new stores in Bangkok and Pattaya....

[Thainess]

The rumours I've heard is that the entire Central organisation is going out of business. Thais and tourists alike no longer have enough money to spend there.

[brewsterbudgen]

It business is so bad, according to the doom merchants here, why is Central spending so much money refurbishing their stores. Thet did Bang Na a while ago, and now Central World, and there have probably been others I don't know about. thrn there are their new stores in Bangkok and Pattaya....

The doom merchants are wrong. Central Group is doing very well and continues to expand. The one branch that is less successful is Central Embassy. Centralworld is doing fine.

[NickJ]

Off Thai topic a bit. I'm in the USA for awhile. Lots if malls are closing. There just dead. Stumbled into a JCPenny store the other day. Place was closing everything 70% or more off.

Funny. Amazon now getting into brick and mortar. 

My ex Gf's Dad partnered up with the Central Group. They built one mall Togo. She said all they did was cheat the bejesus out of her old man. 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 hour ago, NickJ said:

Off Thai topic a bit. I'm in the USA for awhile. Lots if malls are closing. There just dead. Stumbled into a JCPenny store the other day. Place was closing everything 70% or more off.

 

Do you mean entire malls are closing, or individual stores in the malls are closing?

 

The former I'm not aware of to any great extent. The latter, yes, a lot of that going on.

[lopburi3]

Quote

Between 20% and 25% of the nation’s shopping malls will close in the next five years, according to a new report from Credit Suisse that predicts e-commerce will continue to pull shoppers away from bricks-and-mortar retailers.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-malls-closing-20170531-story.html

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 hour ago, brewsterbudgen said:

The doom merchants are wrong. Central Group is doing very well and continues to expand. The one branch that is less successful is Central Embassy. Centralworld is doing fine.

 

According to the investor briefing document another member posted here earlier, Central is planning to open 2-3 new malls every year and refurbish another 2-3 every year for at least the next several years. Not all in BKK, of course, but some in BKK regularly.

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

5 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-malls-closing-20170531-story.html

 

Yes, but I wasn't asking the poster what would happen in the next 5 years. I was asking he what he reported seeing NOW --  store closings or actual full malls being shuttered.

[lopburi3]

Reports are dozens have closed in last decade and future looks much bleaker.  Without major store to draw shoppers most could not survive as costs would be too high for the number of customers.

 

Quote

The process usually starts when a shopping mall starts losing anchor stores.  That is why it is so alarming that Sears, J.C. Penney and Macy’s are planning to shut down so many locations in 2017.  According to one recent report, 310 shopping malls in America are in imminent danger of losing an anchor store…

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-07/third-all-shopping-malls-are-projected-close-space-available-signs-go-all-over-ameri

 

There are many other reports from non 'fake news' sources (can not quote as they do not like my ad blocker).  But the writing seems to be on the wall - vacancy.

[lopburi3]

From a personal perspective my sister and her husband ran a large import hardware business for about 20 years (sold last year) and there business changed from wholesale to hardware stores/chains to retail on Amazon as much better for seller and buyer and centralized logistics making availability much better.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

It's the low-end malls that are considered to be at risk in the U.S.

 

The higher-end, destination malls -- the Paragons and CW's of the U.S. -- are generally expected to do just fine, and potentially benefit by there being a consolidation of available mall retail space as the weaker, poorer locations fall out.

 

 

 

 

[lopburi3]

Destination malls in USA are not normally located on most expensive property in center of city (which is likely why Central is building smaller malls outside city center).  Big difference in cost and the customer base required to keep afloat.  And options for buying at lower cost is now available for most items in Thailand (where it was previously controlled by family restricted import) so you can't just charge anything and wait for the sheep to buy.    

[planr]

12 hours ago, shanesox said:

Refurbishment? Umm nope!


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Here's a neat list of refurbished centres and existing centres with new expansions in the last four years. 

 

• Siam Center (centre-wide renovation) - 2013
• Groove at CentralWorld (expansion) - 2013 
• HaHa Market at Paradise Park (expansion) - 2014
• CentralPlaza Bangna (expansion) - 2014
• Emporium (renovation) - 2014/2015
• Zpell at Future Park Rangsit (expansion) - 2015
• CentralPlaza Pinklao (renovation) - 2015/2016 
• Siam Discovery (centre-wide renovation) - 2015/2016
• CentralPlaza Bangna (renovation) - 2016
• Seacon Square Srinakarin (expansion) - 2016
• CentralPlaza Rama III (renovation) - ongoing 
• CentralWorld (renovation) - ongoing
• Siam Paragon (renovation) - ongoing

 

MBK is also undergoing renovation bit by bit, though no doubt some of the vacancies mentioned earlier are a result of the crackdown on illicit merchandise.

Edited July 2, 2017 by planr

[impulse]

6 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

It business is so bad, according to the doom merchants here, why is Central spending so much money refurbishing their stores. Thet did Bang Na a while ago, and now Central World, and there have probably been others I don't know about. thrn there are their new stores in Bangkok and Pattaya....

 

Ya figure they'd be spending a bunch of money fixing something that wasn't broken?

 

Or, more accurately, wasn't showing the need for $$$ investment to gain back customers?

 

Edit:  It really looks to me like an arms race where they're all having to spend money to stay competitive and keep from getting knocked out by a newer, zoomier mall down the street.  But I suspect that long after they reach a saturation level, it will take years for them to figure out that they can't spend enough to stay in the game- and still have enough left over stay in the game.

 

Edited July 2, 2017 by impulse

[impulse]

3 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

The higher-end, destination malls -- the Paragons and CW's of the U.S. -- are generally expected to do just fine, and potentially benefit by there being a consolidation of available mall retail space as the weaker, poorer locations fall out.

 

I think a lot of the malls are struggling because of online sales, but I also think that losing their anchor tenants like Sears, Macy's, JC Penney's, etc is also weighing heavily.

 

I also passed by a (formerly) popular mall near my home in China, and it's been almost dead on the vine since Korean retailer E-Mart pulled out.

 

 

[bkkgriz]

On 7/1/2017 at 10:44 AM, shadowofacloud said:

They are closing it down. The buildings will be subsequently demolished and the area turned into a public park. ;-)

I know you are joking, but wouldn't that be great. Maybe the eternal question of how many malls does Bangkok need is being answered.