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Tag: Gaysorn

  • MaxMara Thailand opens two spin-off stores

    MaxMara Thailand opens two spin-off stores

    Max&Co and Weekend MaxMara stores have opened at CentralWorld, joining the MaxMara Thailand store at Gaysorn Shopping Centre.

    They have been opened by the Italian fashion house’s sold distributor for Thailand, Pacifica Group.

    On the second floor of the Groove Zone and managed by Opras, Sopana and Prasert Lavichant of Pacifica Group, the Max&Co flagship store attracted a crowd of Thai fashionistas to its opening, revealing the brand’s spring-summer line.

    “We’ve been importing Max&Co clothing for more than a year and have had great feedback,” says chief executive Opras.

    “The store interior is typical of the brand, meant to resemble a cosy Milanese apartment, in subdued tones that convey wellbeing and serenity. It is designed to make women shoppers feel more at home.”

    At Weekend MaxMara, the focus is on leisure and cruise looks with matched blouses, trousers, skirts, shorts, swimwear, bags and shoes. It covers 95 sqm and features strips of walnut wood contrasted with grey glazed Cotto tiling above Italian cementine flooring. Sofas, chairs, lamps on tables and a smattering of books and magazines invite shoppers to linger. Founded in 1984, Weekend MaxMara features mainly outdoors clothing.

    Meanwhile, the main MaxMara store at Gaysorn is showing the spring-summer line from creative designer Lina Bo Bardi, who injects modernism into sensual, sleek and luxuriant clothes that might be athletic or hi-tech, as reported. MaxMara also uses high-performance jersey and nylon for its body-hugging dresses.

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  • Starbucks Asia showcases local art

    Starbucks Asia showcases local art

    Art is playing a major role in the store design of Starbucks Asia.

    Michael Izon, director of store design in Starbucks China/Asia Pacific region, says his team works with artists, who work in a variety of mediums, to enhance stores in the Philippines and Thailand.

    Gaysorn_Starbucks_Thailand_(1)

    “Sometimes we seek the help of companies that represent local artists, while other times we find artists by chance. We once discovered an artist’s work while walking the streets of Hong Kong and asked to commission his work for one of our stores,” Izon said.

    Decisions about artwork occur at the beginning of the store design process.

    “We call our process holistic store design because we don’t want elements like artwork to look additive, we want them integrated in the overall design and become a natural part of the store,” said Izon.

    He added, art in Starbucks stores should be visually pleasing, but also informative in telling the brand’s story.

    One of the artists whom Starbucks was worked with is Ella Hipolito. Known for using coffee grounds to create realistic paintings, Hipolito has created artwork for Starbucks Philippines, including one for the S’Maison Starbucks in Pasay City.

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    “We wanted to highlight the work that takes place on Philippine coffee farms. Ella created a huge landscape painting on one of the walls in the store that depicts farmers harvesting coffee cherries,” Izon said.

    In Thailand, as customers enter the Gaysorn Starbucks in Bangkok, they encounter a mural that represents Starbucks’ travel around the world to source coffee. The mural was created in partnership with Jeentee Baiposuwan, a local artist and graduate of Silapakorn University.

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    “Jeentee is a traditional Thai painter and used this style to develop a wonderful piece depicting the Starbucks Siren and the beginning of the Starbucks coffee journey,” said Izon.

    Smaller landscape paintings featured throughout the store share the story of single origin coffees and farmers.

    “Gaysorn is a premium mall, so the store has a luxurious look to it and the artwork reflects that as well,” added Izon.

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    When Izon and team received the design brief for the Siam Discovery store in Bangkok, the vision was to showcase Starbucks global social responsibility efforts in addition to highlighting coffee.

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    In the seating area of the store is Jeentee Baiposuwan’s large wire-art installation depicting 12 of Starbucks social impact initiatives.

    “There’s a lot of satisfaction knowing that what we design on paper for several months, will engage customers for many years,” said Izon.

  • Brooks Brothers Thailand opens Bangkok flagship

    Brooks Brothers Thailand opens Bangkok flagship

    Classic American menswear retailer Brooks Brothers has opened a flagship store at Bangkok’s Gaysorn Shopping Centre, to be followed by more outlets in the city.

    The new Brooks Brothers Thailand store’s interior features a finished wood floor, with shelves stocking garments of various checks, plaids, gingham and stripes. Brooks Brothers produced seersucker as early as the 1950s, and the Bangkok store displays a mannequin in a seersucker suit.

    Brooks Brothers, a private company owned by an Italian billionaire, launched in the US in 1818 and is the oldest retailer in the US. It speaks of personal wealth and achievement. Brooks Brothers suits were featured in the television drama Mad Men.

  • Bangkok retail rents hold firm despite competition

    Bangkok retail rents hold firm despite competition

    Bangkok’s retail market is now “the most competitive it has ever been” – yet there is another 1.1 million sqm of retail space under construction.

    When complete, by the end of 2017, that will bring the total completed supply of mall space in the Thai capital to nearly 8 million sqm – all in a market currently characterised by weak consumer sentiment and slow retail sales growth.

    But despite the intense competition, a leading property expert says Bangkok retail rents – in malls, anyway – are holding firm.

    In a column (which you can read in full here) written for the Bangkok Post Spectrum magazine CBRE Thailand MD Aliwassa Pathnadabutr, says the proliferation of new brands setting up shop in Bangkok, and the expansion of existing branded chains is fuelling unprecedented competition in the city.

    “In the upcoming festive season, we expect to see major retail developers competing with heavy promotions and retail events in a bid draw consumers and capture their holiday spending,” Pathnadabutr asserted.

    “The expansion by retail developers in the CBD and suburban areas, entry of new local and international retailers, combined with a challenging economic outlook and weak consumer sentiment is all adding up to the mix.”

    Pathnadabutr says the recent openings of EmQuartier and Central Embassy have intensified competition for existing CBD malls like the high-end Gaysorn, and the giant CentralWorld and Paragon centres.

    “As the major retail centres are chasing after the same group of consumers, retail events and promotions have become ubiquitous leading to a cut-throat competition and heightened promotion campaigns, particularly gearing up to the festive season where consumer spending typically peaks.”

    Expansion and development of suburban centres – like the Future Park Rangsit expansion which marked its soft opening in the last fortnight – may draw customers away from the CBD malls, although Pathnadabutr expects their impact to be limited and growing tourist base will keep the numbers up in the larger centres.

    Despite the competition, retail rents have held their own in Bangkok, according to Pathnadabutr.

    “It is often difficult to measure retail rents as there is a big range even within a single development. Prime retail rents in Grade-A downtown shopping centres range from THB1800 to 4500 (US$50 – $125) per sqm per month for ground floor spaces and THB1200 to 2380 (US$33 – $66) per sqm per month for suburban malls.

    “This level has been maintained throughout 2015 despite the growing competition.”

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