Aeon (Thailand) have announced that they will be developing their first mega mall project in Bangkok, to open in 2018.
Luxury shopping malls spring up regularly in Bangkok and debate rages over whether yet more opportunities for material consumerism in this city are really necessary.
Regardless, developers know that shopping malls never go out of fashion and have faith that the imminent dawning of the Asean Economic Community means that more people than ever before will be heading to Bangkok to shop until they drop.
Japanese giant Aeon have announced that they will be ploughing ฿10 billion (US$280 million) of investment into Thailand over the next five years with plans afoot to develop the mega project, various speciality stores and the opening of 10 new MaxValu supermarkets, reports the Bangkok Post.
They are still looking for a plot of land on which to hoist their mega mall but are intent on somewhere offering between 200,000 to 300,000 square metres of retail space for their estimated ฿6 billion (US$170 million) project.
“The new retail megaproject will have the same image as Aeon in Japan,” said Aeon managing director, Masamitsu Ikuta.
“We want this shopping complex to be able to complete with inner-city retail megaprojects such as Siam Paragon, CentralWorld and The Emporium.”
The Mall Group’s emerging EM District is quite a formidable foe for Aeon to compete with.
Alongside the well established Emporium is the relatively newly opened EmQuartier, soon to be joined by EM Sphere at Phrom Phong BTS Station to complete the District’s retail offerings.
The Nation reports that upon its completion, EM District will be home to over 1,000 leading Thai and international brands.
Aeon’s project – once a suitable location has been found – is slated to complete in 2018.
This is the first step in Aeon’s regional strategy to aggressively expand its Asean presence between now and 2020.
What do you think – does Bangkok really need yet another huge shopping mall?
