The history of retail trends in Thailand
By Jon Fernquest[Introduction|Vocabulary|Article]
[Reading Questions|Answers]
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Sometimes we get so used to things the way they are, we forgot how they once were and, more importantly, how they got to be that way.
By now, a large fraction of Bangkok has probably strolled through the luxurious Siam Paragon shopping center, window shopping for Ferraris and diamond studded watches...but in the end probably opting for the much cheaper 60 baht steak in the food court downstairs.
Siam Paragon is on the leading edge of retailing in Thailand nowadays. What was the state of the art 60 years ago?
That's what today's article is about. It provides a good chance to get a historical perspective that might stimulate future innovation, the history that will be written in another 60 years.
For further reading check out Wikipedia's list of shopping malls in Thailand, as well as articles on luxury goods, watchmakers and jewellers, and also articles on specific brands such as Bulgari or Cartier.
Reading Questions
Here are some questions to guide your reading (See answers at end):1. What were the two retail formats that preceded shopping malls in Thailand?
2. What district of Bangkok was the largest shopping district 60 years ago?
3. What was the main retail format to be found in Yaowarat 60 years ago?
4. What was the first modern department store in Yaowarat? Was it indoors?
5. What kind of products were sold there?
6. What was so revolutionary about the Ratchadamri Arcade opened in 1972? (in the photo)
7. What innovations did Daimaru, the first Japanese department store, bring to Thailand?
8. In the early 1990s what new retail formats were introduced to Thailand?
9. What other functions do shopping centers provide in peoples' lives? Why?
10. When did large discount retailers enter the Thai retail market? What are the names of the main competitors?
11. What is the most recent trend in shopping centers?
12. What major change in Thai retail does Mr. Wanchai predict for the future?
Article
BANGKOK POST 60 YEARS AGONo Stopping Shopping
From small shophouses to skyscraping stores and malls, the face of Thailand's retail industry has changed dramaticallyPITSINEE JITPLEECHEEP
For retail magnate Wanchai Chirathivat, Thailand's shopping landscape has undergone dramatic changes in ways he had never anticipated over the past 60 years.
Fading from memory - especially in Bangkok - are the days when everyday essentials were sold in wet markets or neighbourhood family shophouses.
Yaowarat (Chinatown) was the largest shopping area at the time, offering a wide range of local and imported consumer products from shophouses.
Tai Fah was recognised as the first modern department store in Yaowarat. Major products available at its open-air outlet were clothes and home products, a few cosmetics and shoes. Of course, customers could always bargain down their prices.
Apart from Tai Fah, other Thai department stores included Maew Dam (Black Cat), Nightingale, Artang, Pacific and Kwan Nakhon.
A few years after Tai Fah opened, the Central Group drove the momentum forward with the introduction of a more sophisticated store on Si Phraya Road.
"In that era, Thai shoppers had started to become exposed to more international magazines, clothes, electrical appliances and cosmetics such as Lancome, Helena Rubinstein, Dunhill, Manhattan and Jockey," recalled Mr Wanchai, the Central Group chairman.
But the Thai retail market was really revolutionised in 1972. The opening of Ratchadamri Arcade brought about a new era to the already sophisticated Bangkok shopping scene.
The complex not only housed 220 fully air-conditioned shops - from restaurants, coffee shops, beauty treatment centres, boutiques and leather goods centres - but also included a Japanese retail chain for the first time, the Daimaru department store.
Daimaru was sardine-packed with shoppers rushing up the first escalators they had seen in a department store. Not only did it offer a host of products, but it also had a children's playground on the roof and multi-storey parking for over 500 cars.
From 1980 to 1990, many more department stores entered the market. They included The Mall, Merry Kings, Pata, Banglampoo, Cathay, Asian, Edison, Robinson, Tang Hua Seng, Big Bell, Imperial and Wellgrow.
A few years later it was the turn of foreign and Japanese retail chains - Jusco, Isetan, Yaohan, Tokyu and Printemps department stores.
However, by the early 1990s the country saw many throw in the towel as the market intensified. Since then, various retail formats have continued to proliferate, from specialty shops to convenience stores.
This shaped the retail scene in many ways. Thai people were no longer hard-pressed to find hamburgers, buy a bar of soap or even pay an electricity bill after midnight.
And in a city seriously short of attractive public spaces and parks, shopping malls have become important venues for socialising and recreation, with children's fun parks, fitness centres and movie theatres.
The nature of shopping changed further starting in 1997, with the advent of foreign discount store chains. Touting cheaper prices, convenience and novel designs, they took over the market in a short period of time, driven by consumers hunting for low-cost goods during the economic crisis.
Today there are 120 outlets of the likes of Big C, Tesco Lotus and Carrefour.
At the other end of the spectrum, Thai people have also seen many high-end shopping complexes springing up of late, with the opening of The Emporium, between Sukhumvit 24 and 26, then Gaysorn, Erawan Bangkok and, most recently, Siam Paragon.
The good news is that better shopping experiences are here to stay. Mr Wanchai predicts Thailand's retail landscape will continue to develop far beyond what it has become today.
"The next five decades will be very different from today as Thai shoppers will have the chance to shop at Thai stores abroad," he said.
That drive could be led by the Central Group, which is looking to establish itself as a regional retailing presence.
Vocabulary (in discussion above)
Vocabulary (in introduction)
to stroll - to walk in a slow relaxed way, usually with someone else (walking as a pleasurable activity in itself)
window shopping - looking into the glass windows of shops for entertainment and imagining buying things without actually buying, possibly just to pass the time between other activities (See Wikipedia on shopping)
diamond studded - with diamonds inserted as decoration (for example on a watch)
opting for - choose something instead of something else
on the leading edge - the most advanced in an area of knowledge
state of the art - (also) the most advanced in an area of knowledge
innovation - introduction of new ideas and ways of doing things that are improvements
Vocabulary (in article)
magnate - the wealthy owner of a large and successful business in a certain industry (for example a shipping magnate)
wet markets - "A live animal market, a common sight in many areas of the world and a source of influenza viruses and other infectious disease agents for human beings. SARS outbreaks have been traced to wet markets in southern China. Wet markets sell live poultry, fish, reptiles, and mammals of every kind. Animals may stay from days to weeks. Daily introduction of new animals provides optimum conditions for the development of disease agents such as influenza. Add the daily human contacts (including children) with the live animals, and conditions are optimal for the transfer and evolution of infectious disease agents." (Source: MedicineNet.com)
shophouses - a neighborhood store located in a family's house
revolutionised - made great changes in something
a complex - a large building divided into several smaller areas or several related buildings
a boutique - a small, elite, and highly specialized store, usually selling fashionable items, such as clothes and jewelry
retail chain - several related stores selling in the same retail format under the same brand name, for example 7-11 convenience stores or Tokyu department stores
sardine packed - very crowded (like a can of sardines)
throw in the towel - quit, give up (in a boxing match a boxer's coach throws a towel into the ring if the boxer has been injured too much and they want to stop the match)
the market intensified - more businesses enter the market (so competition got more intense)
retail formats - the different ways of organizing retail sales (for example in shopping centers versus public markets versus downtown business districts)
proliferate - increase in number quickly
the retail scene - the retail industry or market, all the different retailers who compete with each other
hard-pressed to - having a difficult time doing
venues - public places
touting - promoting a new feature of a product
novel - new and unique
at the other end of the spectrum - at the other extreme (for example the very poor as opposed to the very wealthy or the very young as opposed to the very old)
high-end - luxury products and services for the wealthy
Answer Key:
1. What were the two retail formats that preceded shopping malls in Thailand?
Wet markets and neighborhood family shophouses.
2.What district of Bangkok was the largest shopping district 60 years ago?
Yaowarat, also known as Chinatown.
3. What was the main retail format to be found in Yaowarat 60 years ago?
Shophouses.
4. What was the first modern department store in Yaowarat? Was it indoors?
Tai Fah which was an "open-air outlet" meaning that it was not indoors, but outdoors.
5. What kind of products were sold there?
Tai Wah sold "clothes and home products" and "a few cosmetics and shoes."
6. What was so revolutionary about the Ratchadamri Arcade opened in 1972? (in the photo)
The Ratchadamri Arcade was indoors and fully air-conditioned. It had a variety of different kinds of shops and the first Japanese retail chain.
7. What innovations did Daimaru, the first Japanese department store, bring to Thailand?
Daimaru had the first escalators, a children's playground on the roof, and a parking garage for over 500 cars.
8. In the early 1990s what new retail formats were introduced to Thailand?
Retail formats introduced to Thailand included convenience stores and specialty shops.
9. What other functions do shopping centers provide in peoples' lives? Why?
They are important places for socialising and recreation. Besides stores, they also have children's fun parks, fitness centres and movie theatres.
Shopping centers have become important in Bangkok because Bangkok does not have a lot of parks and public spaces, particularly air-conditioned public places.
10. When did large discount retailers enter the Thai retail market? What are the names of the main competitors?
Discount retailers entered the Thai retail market in 1997. The main competitors are Big C, Tesco Lotus, and Carrefour.
11. What is the most recent trend in shopping centers?
High-end shopping centers featuring luxury goods for the wealthy and those who aspire to be such as The Emporium, Gaysorn, and Siam Paragon.
12. What major change in Thai retail does Mr. Wanchai predict for the future?
He predicts that Thai retailers will start opening stores in other countries, obviously using the accumulated experience they have gained over several decades developing this industry in Thailand.
