Brand Off, one of Tokyo's leading second-hand brand shops, is scheduled to debut in Bangkok early next month.
Shusak Tanglertsampan, chief executive of Money Cafe Co, the operator of Money Cafe lifestyle pawn shops, said the company recently signed a two-year contract with Brand Off to open Brand Off Tokyo shops by Money Cafe, trademarked in Bangkok.
The first flagship Brand Off Tokyo store, worth 100 million baht, is scheduled to open at Siam Square Soi 3 on May 1, 2018.
In an initial step, the first store will open only two floors to sell branded bags, jewellery and watches.
After that it will open a third floor to sell lesser-brand products such as Coach for teenagers and young adults, while the fourth floor will be for wholesale business.
There are about 300 product items expected to be available at the store. The price of second-hand branded products available at this shop in Thailand will be slightly different from those in Japan.
About 60-70% of products will be sourced from Thailand and the remainder will be imported from Brand Off Tokyo.
Established 25 years ago, Brand Off Tokyo operates about 50 Brand Off Tokyo shops in Japan.
It also operates international branches, with seven second-hand branded stores -- three in Hong Kong and four branches in Taiwan.
Thailand is the first country in Southeast Asia for Brand Off to expand its business.
Three Brand Off Tokyo shops will open this year and two more shops are planned to open next year, mainly in leading shopping complexes.
Each requires 50-100 square metres of space, depending on location.
Money Cafe has been in the pawn shop business for only one year, but Mr Shusak's family has engaged in the pawn shop industry for about four decades under Pinkoo pawnshop.
There are two Money Cafe shops, at Pin Klao and Ramkhamhaeng. The company plans to open one more Money Cafe pawn shop this year.
He said his company's expansion to Brand Off Tokyo branded shops is to fulfil the family's pawn shop business plan to cover branded products.
Wasinee Tanglertsampan, executive director of Money Cafe, said Thailand's second-hand brand-name shops, worth over 1 billion baht, are expected to continue growing in line with the fashion market.
"We are confident Brand Off Tokyo will get a warm response from Thais," said Mr Shusak. The company expects to gain 80 million baht in sales this year, he said.
"The company will have specialists from Japan working for Brand Off Tokyo in Thailand to inspect products," said Mr Shusak.