Foodland Supermarket Co Ltd, the wholly Thai-owned chain, is set to open its largest grocery store in the Nawamin area tomorrow, about six months later than planned because of the pandemic.
Somsak Teraphatanakul, the founder and the company's chairman, now 88, said the Nawamin outlet is the largest Foodland branch, located on a 6.5-rai plot with an investment cost of up to 1 billion baht.
The five-storey building covering 2,500 square metres features a Foodland supermarket with new decoration; logistics centre; cooking school; 120-seat Took Lae Dee quick-service restaurant; Gourmet Primo Co, a business unit of Bangkok Air Catering Co (BAC); cold storage for meat and vegetables; and a new service, Grab & Go.
"We have to open our new store to retain our competitiveness," he said. "But our new investment will focus on the best locations. We don't know how long Covid-19 will persist and what will happen in the market, but we will never give up."
Foodland was established by Mr Somsak in 1972. The chain positions itself as an upmarket brand with 22 branches in Greater Bangkok and one each in Pattaya and Nakhon Ratchasima.
In addition to the supermarket, the company also operates four food brands comprising Tim Ho Wan, Hawker Chan, Tonkotsu Kazan Ramen and Mr. Pizza.
"Despite the pandemic, some Foodland branches such as Srinakarin Road in Bangkok and Nakhon Ratchasima have still fared quite well," said Mr Somsak.
However, he said the company does not have any plans to open new branches in 2021.
"We have to wait and see if the pandemic situation improves," said Mr Somsak. "More importantly, it is very difficult to find workers."