Boutique New City Plc, the Saha Group's fashion arm, is shifting its focus to market more imported fashion brands than its locally made ones due to the impact of rising wages and the shortage of skilled workers.
An artist’s conception of Trucco, the Spanish fashion brand, opening in Siam Center next month.
President Panitarn Pavarolavidya said these factors have led to a supply shortages of its own products in recent months.
"Importing fashion brands will help us to speed our clothing business at a faster pace," he said.
The company will open its flagship Trucco store, the Spanish fashion brand, in Bangkok's Siam Center next month to respond to the growing popularity of Spanish fashion here.
It will spend 10 million baht on the store covering 127 square metres.
"We chose this brand because it's good quality and its concept is different from other Spanish brands in Thailand," said Mr Panitarn.
Trucco's designs come from collective ideas from designers who travel the world looking for inspiration.
Only 12-15 collections of 15-20 pieces will be available each season.
Garment prices will range from 890 to 4,000 baht, similar to those at Promod and Massimo Dutti.
Locations of the more than 200 Trucco stores in the world include Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong.
Mr Panitarn came across the brand by accident during a trip to Spain.
"The first time I saw it, I brought back 40 pieces. I suddenly knew this brand was absolutely right. Shortly after my return, I heard Trucco was looking for partners in Thailand, so I tried and got it," he said.
A second Trucco store in Bangkok will be in Paradise Park on Srinakarin Road. The company plans to open three or four Trucco stores a year.
Boutique New City has also imported another Spanish brand _ Adolfo Domi{aac}nguez _ which opened a store in CentralWorld last year.
It also has licences to market other international fashion brands including Guy Laroche, L'Officiel, Feraud, GSP and Jousse.
Boutique New City plans to import at least one more fashion brand each year.
Although the company has changed its strategy to focus on imported products, it will also export its own brands to foreign markets to cash in on huge purchasing power once the Asean Economic Community kicks off in 2016.
It has already exported its products to Malaysia, Myanmar, Cambodia and Singapore, with Laos following next year.
The company plans to set up its own fashion factory in Laos or Cambodia to produce products for Asean.
After it expands into more Asean markets, foreign sales will account for half the total in five years compared with only 8% now.
Sales of Boutique New City are expected to reach 1 billion baht this year, up by 26% from last year.