Having bedded down its acquisition of 49 per cent of Vietnam’s Nguyen Kim electrical goods retailer, Thailand’s Central Group has now revealed the partnership has a five year business plan.
The companies say they want Nguyen Kim to become “the top consumer electronics retailer in Vietnam and the Southeast Asian region”.
That plan includes expanding the store network from the current 20 nationwide to 50 by 2019. The two did not reveal ambitions for the brand outside Vietnam, but Central already owns the PowerBuy brand in Thailand giving it unique experience and insight into the regional market, not to mention strong relationships with leading electronics brand internationally.
Powerbuy has 80 stores across Thailand, including flagships in Central Group Malls, including Bangkok’s CentralWorld, Asia’s largest shopping centre.
Central, whose Vietnam operations chief now takes on the role of CEO of Nguyen Kim, also plans to expand the product range on offer at the Nguyen Kim stores, adding products other than electronics. It wants to achieve 50 per cent growth in online revenue this calendar year.
Central Group already has a strong presence in Vietnam through ownership of the SuperSports, Crocs and New Balance retail stores and the recently-debuted Robins department stores in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, a localised version of its Robinsons department stores in Thailand.
