DTAC distributor ventures into retail

DTAC’s largest distributor in the Northeast is expanding to develop its first retail project in Udon Thani, with construction scheduled to be completed in October next year. Udon Plaza Co was set up with registered capital of 300 million baht to develop the project.

Worapol Weerachatyanukul, the company’s managing director, said that the company had signed a contract with the State Railway of Thailand to rent the land for 34 years to develop UD Town as a lifestyle destination.

The company will develop the project in two phases. The first, which starts next month, will involve UD Town on a 14-rai land plot, and the remaining land will contain a hotel at some point in the future.

Construction of the 300-million-baht retail complex is expected to be completed in October next year. The open-air shopping mall will have total retail space of 24,000 square metres with parking for 600 cars. Of the total space, about 2,000 square metres will be retail space. It is expected to create at least 1,000 jobs.

Mr Worapol said the company was expanding into retail development because it saw a huge potential after 14 years’ experience distributing mobile phones in retail complexes.

He said there were only a few large retail sites in Udon Thani including Charoensri Plaza, Big C and Tesco Lotus, even though it was the eighth-most populous province in Thailand. The province also has about 30,000 foreign households and up to 160,000 tourists from Laos shop there each month.

The company expects UD Town will serve not only local residents but also customers in nearby provinces including Nakhon Phanom, Loei and Nong Khai.

Worapol: Hopes mall creates 1,000 jobs.

”UD Town will be the shopping destination for people in the upper northeastern region,”he said.

The company expects about 20,000 shoppers to visit the complex on weekdays and 30,000 a day on weekends. Average spending per visit is forecast at 1,000 baht.

Contour Co, which has served as the designer for many trendy retail sites in Bangkok including J Avenue, The Esplanade and Major Avenue, has been asked to design UD Town.

The company started selling pace two months ago and more than 50% has been booked. It expects sales of 150 million baht per year and should break even within three or four years.

For the second phase, the company will start construction next year under the new concept of shopping in the park.

Mr Worapol said the company had postponed a plan to develop a 200-room boutique hotel because of the unfavourable economic environment.

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