Thursday, August 27, 2009

CFR allocates B600m for Tops expansion

       Central Food Retail Co, the operator of Tops Supermarket, will pour 600 million baht into business expansion next year.
       President Ian Pye said that about 400 million baht will be spent on opening five Tops Supermarkets and Tops Markets, along with 40 new Tops Daily mini supermarkets, bringing the total to 173 next year. Another 200 million baht will be used to renovate its 17 existing stores.
       The expansion will focus on the Tops Daily format after two years of market testing. CFR has 17 Tops Daily outlets nationwide, with the number set to rise to 25 by the year-end and 65 next year.
       CFR currently has 117 supermarkets outlets nationwide, followed by Tesco with 55, Villa Market with 15, Jusco with nine and Home Fresh Mart with nine.
       Mr Pye will retire as president of CFR at the end of this month. Alistair Taylor,a 46-year-old British executive, will succeed him on Sept 1.
       "With 44 years of experience in a fantastic retail business, I may consider being a retail consultant as a new job,"said Mr Pye.
       Mr Taylor joined CFR in December 2004. Previously he had worked with Sainsbury's in the UK, before moving to the retailer ParknShop in Hong Kong and China.
       Mr Taylor plans to follow existing CFR policies but said he would focus more on the firm's speed.
       "In this economic environment, the competition and business change all the time, so we have to prepare ourselves by focusing on speed for our new initiatives. We plan to be a market leader and not a follower," he said.
       Sales of CFR in the first seven months of this year grew by 3%, compared to an earlier projection of 8% to 9%. Sales volume increased but value declined as consumers bought cheaper products.CFR is doing more marketing, including its Spot Rewards Card, to price-conscious shoppers amid high competition.
       "I feel the country's economy has stopped declining," said Mr Pye.
       The company expects its full-year sales will grow by 5% to 6% to 22 billion baht and hit 24 billion baht within next year,he added.

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