The Suksapan store’s Ratchadamnoen branch, a state stationery store, finally closed its door on Friday after faithfully serving parents and students for almost seven decades.
The Suksapan store falls under the umbrella of the Ministry of Education. It is a subsidised commercial project under the Office of the Welfare Promotion Commission for Teachers and Educational Personnel (Otep), a state body responsible for publishing school textbooks.
Friday’s closure made some former customers nostalgic. Since 1950, generations of students and parents from Bangkok have passed through the Ratchadamnoen branch to buy stationery kits and cheap textbooks.
Post-closure, the store’s stock will shift to the Rajabopit branch, near the Giant Swing in Phra Nakhon. Meanwhile, more than 100 staff members will also be relocated to eight of the store’s remaining branches in Bangkok.
Nevertheless, the last day of operations at the store attracted many customers. Most of them were old customers who came not to shop, but to walk down memory lane.
Among them was longtime customer, Pranee Saelee, 57, who told the Bangkok Post that she came to have a last look. The store is more than simply a stationery shop for Ms Pranee. In fact, it provides her with memories of her childhood.
“When I was a student, my friends and I often stopped by this store after finishing school. In my opinion, it’s one of the best-supplied and inexpensive stationery stores in Bangkok. It has things that we cannot find in other shops such as art supplies, educational toys and science supplies,” she recalled.
Another loyal customer, Suchart Haewtako, 55, said it’s sad that the store won’t be there for him to share with future generations of his family.
“I always came here when I was a student. When my children were students, I also brought them here to buy school supplies. It’s sad that my granddaughter won’t have the chance to come to this shop,” he said.
Patrawadee Boonme, a worker at the Suksapan store’s Rachadamnoen branch, said the store was like her second home as she had been working there since 1991.
“It’s sad that this place is going away, but at least our new location, the Rajabopit branch, is not too far away from this spot, so customers can still follow us there,” she said.
Sukon Tourton, a former manager at the Suksapan store’s Rajadamnoen branch, said he wanted to visit the place where he used to work for over 30 years one last time.
“I came to visit my ex-colleagues and some longtime customers. Even though I have been retired since last year, I still sometimes came here to help because the staff here are like family to me,” he said.
Mr Sukon said although it is sad news for him, he understood the decision of Otep to close down the Rachadamneon branch.
“The rental fee was too high. The branch had to pay about one million baht per month as rent to the Crown Property Bureau and the fee was set to increase to three million baht per month if we wanted to stay at the same spot. We cannot make a profit under these circumstances,” he said.
Mr Sukon admitted that the closure of Rachadamnoen branch made him worry about the future of his former subordinates as half of the other Suksapan branches are also experiencing similar financial struggles as the Ratchadamnoen branch.
“You never know how long the other branches will be able to survive and which ones will be shut down next because technology has changed rapidly in recent years. Students these days can download anything on the internet. They can even learn courses online. Our customer base is getting smaller. We need to adapt to survive,” he said.
Wirakul Aranyanak, an Education Ministry inspector in his capacity as the director of the Business Organisation of Otep, said Otep is now trying to improve the Suksapan store’s online platform in order to help it be competitve.