Dohome, the construction materials and home renovation equipment retailer and wholesaler, plans to add 90 small branches nationwide by 2021 to capitalise on strong demand from do-it-yourself consumers.
Puthada Teravetchakarn, chief operations officer, said consumers prefer to do home repairs by themselves or buy materials for technicians to renovate as it saves on expenses.
"Do-it-yourself is a rising trend," he said. "People want to renovate or repair the home by themselves if they can. It is very easy to use Google or YouTube to find out how to repair something or what materials should be used."
The small branches have a new brand, Dohome To Go.
The company is looking for space of around 300-1,000 square metres at department stores, supermarkets or hypermarkets like Makro, Tesco Lotus and Big C to reach consumers living nearby.
The investment budget is up to 2 million baht per branch or around 6,000 baht per sq m, paying rent of no higher than 400 baht per sq m per month.
Around 10,000 stock-keeping units (SKUs) will be introduced at DoHome To Go, compared with more than 135,000 SKUs at a usual branch, which has a saleable area of 35,000-52,000 sq m.
"We will survey people living within a radius of three kilometres of proposed locations to ensure demand," said Mr Puthada. "We will review each month which items are best sellers and revise the selection."
The second Dohome To Go opened in Makro Sathon yesterday.
Each Dohome To Go will be backed up by the normal store located closest to it. The company has nine branches, four of which are in Greater Bangkok: Rangsit, Rama II Road, Bang Bua Thong and Bang Na.
Five are in provinces, mainly in the North and Northeast, in Ubon Ratchathani, Nakhon Ratchasima, Khon Kaen, Udon Thani and Chiang Mai.
Ten new Dohome To Go branches in Greater Bangkok are planned for this year, starting with Makro Charan Sanitwong 35, which opened on July 4. The majority of items sold are home renovation materials.
Yesterday, the company opened the second Dohome To Go branch in the same area as Makro's Sathon branch on Narathiwat Ratchanakarin Road.
Dohome is scheduled to have an initial public offering of 465.04 million shares at a price of 7.80 baht apiece, with the first day trade on Aug 6.