CENTRAL SILOM COMPLEX UNVEILS NEW LOOK

An artist’s rendering of the renovated Central Silom Complex. The branch will focus on fashion items suitable for office workers and target groups in the area, as well as Central’sownbrands.

Central Department Store Co will spend 250 million baht to give its Silom Complex branch a facelift in 2012.

President Yuwadee Chirathivat said the budget will be used to renovate the Central Department Store and Tops Supermarket at the Silom Complex branch, which has been closed since Saturday.

This is the first big renovation of the Central Department Store in the Silom Complex in two decades of business.

It is in line with company plans to make all Central department stores more modern in terms of products, services and store atmosphere.

A representative of Silom Building and Services Co, developer of the Silom Complex, said it would take 6-9 months to reopen the building.

The five-storey Silom Complex will receive a completely new look aimed at drawing more office workers and families.

Mrs Yuwadee said since Central Silom Complex has only 15,000 square metres of space and is located in a business area surrounded by shopping streets, schools, hotels and condominiums, the plan is to make it a fashion speciality store.

The branch will focus on fashion items suitable for office workers and target groups in the area.

Central will add more fashion brands, both local and international, to meet customer demand.

Additionally, its own fashion brands will be added at this branch under the shop-in-shop concept including Check It Out (CIO), which will be the latest new concept store.

CIO will offer essential products for daily life including bath, kitchen, dining and IT accessories, all in the minimal-and-modern style.

ZeenZone will also open with its new concept store along with a Muji stand-alone shop on the second floor in front of the shopping complex.

Even though the company will lose sales during the store closing, it hopes to offset losses by increasing volume at branches in nearby areas such as Chidlom and CentralPlaza Rama 3 as well Zen Department Store, which will hold its full opening this Friday.

Central Department Store sales for 2011 will be on par with projections.