More Computer shops at The Mall Korat

[Johnnie F.]

RETAILING

Mall Korat fends off rivals

The Mall Group is spending 500 million baht to revamp its Korat branch as competition heats up in the Northeast's retail market with the arrival of rival operators.

Preecha Limoau, general manager of The Mall Korat, said the company closed parts of its Nakhon Ratchasima store for a major renovation last month and expects to complete the work by April 1.

The facelift will increase retail space by 13,000 square metres to house IT and electrical goods outlets, restaurants and financial and health services.

The company also is changing the look on other floors and will increase the number of small retail shops in its City Walk to 400 from 250.

Jakkrit Keeratichokchaikun, chief merchandising officer of Power Mall, said the company would increase the space of Power Mall at Korat by 50% to 3,500 sq m, making it the largest IT and electrical goods outlet in the Northeast.

Mr Preecha said the opening of a Central shopping complex in Khon Kaen in early December had not affected The Mall's business so far. Only 1% to 3% of its customers came from Khon Kaen.

"Consumers in Korat have strong purchasing power because of the strong agricultural fundamentals. At present, the production of tapioca, the main cash crop here, is too short to supply the export market," he said.

Local people's lifestyles had been changing with the entry of The Mall Korat, with more people able to afford mid- to high-priced goods, he said.

"Sales growth at Korat in the first eleven months of this year was 14%, higher than the group's average growth of 5%," Mr Preecha said.

Mr Jakkrit said Power Mall would stage Electronica, an electrical and IT exhibition, at The Mall Korat by the end of next month.

The company expects to spend 50 million baht on the 11th Bangkok Electronica 2010 from today until Jan 5 at The Mall Bang Kapi and The Mall Bang Khae. It expects at least 100,000 visitors and 400 million baht in sales.

Bangkok Post

[Baby Farts]

I hate shopping at The Mall.  Almost everything there is either cheap, junk, or fake.  A lot of these small shops don't give receipts because they want to eliminate the possibility of one of their customers bringing back a defective item.  I once bought a brand new Nokia phone from one of the phone shops.  Right out of the box the headphones did not work.  Instead of exchanging it right after I had already paid for it, they told me they'd have to send it to Bangkok and it would take two weeks to get back.  This just within two hours after the sale.  I told the salesman he would have to speak to my attorney and the police.  Needless to say they finally exchanged it.  Typical Thais.

[Johnnie F.]

I heard they completely cleared out the basement of The Mall for boutique-style shops. Where did all those small IT shops go? Some of them used to be very good at speedy repairs and advice.

[smith]

Last weekend some were still in the basement but in a different location. Some had moved to just around the corner and some were at the end of the basement.