Aeon (Thailand) Co, the operator of MaxValu supermarkets, has announced plans to speed up expansion in Thailand by increasing its number of stores to 500 by 2020.
Ono: Expansion to include Northeast
The company, which now operates 76 outlets in supermarket and mini-supermarket formats, is expected to open 15 more outlets this year.
General manager Keiji Ono said Aeon would spend 300-400 million baht to add new stores and modernise some outlets.
The company had planned to open 30 stores this year but cut the figure after observing light business in the retail sector.
Strengthening facilities by building a food processing centre and IT support unit will help its aggressive expansion from 2018-20, Mr Ono said.
Aeon will this year open MaxValu stores in Laem Chabang and Pattaya, which have many foreign visitors and Japanese businessmen.
Although MaxValu has been in Thailand for 30 years, its outlets are not so popular among Thais, especially in Greater Bangkok. It will spend 48 million baht on promotion campaigns to celebrate its 30th anniversary here.
Mr Ono vows that Thai customers will see more major expansion of MaxValu stores two years from now.
"We will penetrate the market in provinces in the Northeast such as Ubon Ratchathani and Udon Thani in order to exploit the expected economic boom from the coming regional pact of the Asean Economic Community," he said.
The big expansion includes opening 40 new MaxValu stores in 2016 and adding 100 new outlet each year for the following four years to ensure the total reaches 500 by 2020.
Of the 500 stores, 400 will come under the mini-supermarket brand MaxValu Tanjai, while the remaining 100 will be larger supermarkets.
To finance the coming investment, Aeon is conducting a feasibility study to list the company on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, probably in the next three years, with an aim to raise at least 300 million baht fund for outlet expansion.
Sales at MaxValu stores are estimated to reach 6.6 billion baht this year but the figure could grow at least seven times when it completes its expansion in 2020.