Robinson, a leading department store chain, is splashing 3-4 billion baht next year to expand its business.
President Wuttikiat Techamongklapiwat said the funds will mostly be allocated to open two new retail complexes, with one at Bo Win tambon, Sri Racha district, as well as to renovate its existing stores.
The Bo Win branch will have retail space of 30,000 square metres and will be the fourth Robinson store in Chon Buri province.
"Even if the economy is weak in 2020, we will continue our business expansion," he said. "But the expansion will only be in locations we have confidence in."
Mr Wuttikiat said the company chose to open a new lifestyle centre in Chon Buri because it is one of the key provinces in the Eastern Economic Corridor initiative.
The province is also full of individual contractors, expatriates and industrial estates, he said.
On Thursday the company opened its 50th branch in the Lat Krabang area. Robinson Lat Krabang was developed as a lifestyle centre platform. It has retail space of 50,000 sq m and is the first Robinson lifestyle centre in Bangkok.
The two-storey Robinson Lat Krabang is worth 1.5 billion baht and was developed under an oasis concept for shoppers of all generations, comprising a playland, learning education centre, kids cinema, gym and co-working space.
In addition, the proportion of food players was increased to 35% of the total tenants, up from the average of 28%.
Mr Wuttikiat said Lat Krabang has huge potential because the branch has few competitors within a four-kilometre radius, while there are plenty of luxury residences priced between 5-50 million baht.
"The luxury residential business continues to grow in the area because of the increasing industrial sector. Some 40% of people in Lat Krabang have gone to the cinema at Megabangna and 20% have visited Seacon Square mall," he said.
The company expects sales from this branch will be 30-40% higher than the average of existing Robinson Lifestyle Centre stores.
Robinson has a total of 50 stores with retail space of 1 million sq m. Of the total, 23 branches are lifestyle centres and 27 are department stores.