Aeon Thailand announced the soft opening of its Aeon Sriracha shopping center. It is located in Chon Buri’s Si Racha district where a large number of Japanese expats work and live. The development is the second of its kind in Sriacha after J-Park Sriracha, a Japanese community mall.
Nearly THB300 million was spent on the project which is located near Assumption College Sriracha. The complex is three stories and has 21 tenants providing services related to Japanese lifestyle including a 24-hour MaxValu supermarket; Champon, a Japanese fast food restaurant chain; Tackle Berry, Japan’s largest used fishing gear chain; and a Ringer Hut Nagasaki restaurant.
Aeon Sriracha is surrounded by a large population of Thai and Japanese people with high spending power. “Major frequent customers will be Japanese housewives who have free time to shop and dine at our shopping center. They like shopping in a Japanese ambience,” a company source said.
According to Bangkok Post, this project is the first time in 18 years that Aeon Thailand has invested in a big retail project in the country. The company halted its expansion plans in Thailand once the 1997 financial crisis hit.
Aeon Thailand’s parent company, Aeon Group, opened the shopping complex in an attempt to expand its retail business in ASEAN as it hopes to increase sales to USD16 billion by 2020, a company source added. Aeon Thailand also operates the MaxValu supermarkets and MaxValu Tanjai minimarts found primarily in Bangkok and has been operating in the country for over 30 years now.
Aeon Thailand has also announced plans to open 40 MaxValu stores during 2016 with a focus on expanding its retail business outside Bangkok. The Post added they will add many outlets in Northeastern provinces such as Ubon Ratchathani and Udon Thani as they look to take advantage of the increase in foreign trade in that area once the ASEAN Economic Community gets underway.
