Robinson, the department store chain under SET-listed Central Retail Corporation, remains in expansion mode despite various factors, especially the coronavirus pandemic, dampening shopping sentiment.
The company is scheduled to open a new lifestyle shopping centre in 35,000 square metres at Bowin Industrial Park, Chon Buri on April 3 to tap into the growing eastern region.
"While the retail market is faced with many difficulties, be they the economic slowdown, widespread drought, PM2.5 dust or the coronavirus pandemic, we are committed to investing over the next 20-30 years," said Wuttikiat Techamongklapiwat, the company's president.
Robinson Lifestyle Shopping Complex at Bowin is the fourth branch in Chon Buri and the 51st branch of Robinson. Robinson has branches within Pacific Park Shopping Centre at Sri Racha, CentralPlaza Chonburi and Amata Nakorn Industrial Estate.
The opening of the new Robinson lifestyle branch will increase Robinson's retail space in the eastern region by over 40% to 114,100 sq m.
"We started opening department stores in the East over the past 20 years and have a total of eight stores there," Mr Wuttikiat said. "We have never seen any disappointment with the performance in this region.
"There is still growth potential in eastern Thailand because the ratio of people and retail space available in this region remains relatively low compared with other regions.
"For Chon Buri, which is an integral part of the government's flagship Eastern Economic Corridor, we've seen healthy sales in our branches there, trailing only the branches in Greater Bangkok."
Per capita income in Chon Buri remains high because the province hosts several large industrial parks. The Bowin area has up to eight industrial estates, including Pinthong, Hemaraj and Amata Nakorn.
Some 180,000 people live in the Bowin area, plus an additional 108,000 who are not registered.
Mr Wuttikiat said that because of the pandemic, Robinson found that visitor numbers at some branches during January-February fell by 20%. But traffic elsewhere grew, particularly in Suphan Buri, Kanchanaburi and Trang, he said.