iland, not to mention local Thais among whom Japanese products and food are extremely popular. It all came to an abrupt end in early 2020 amid border closures, periodic lockdowns and limitations on trading hours in the Thai capital that played havoc with normal retail operations. It just so happened that in August of that year the Isetan store’s 30-year lease also ended, and the company decided that enough was enough, leaving employees in tears and a big empty box that the mall owners, Central Pattana, vowed to turn into something much better. This was going to be a poster child for how a demised department store represented an opportunity rather than a catastrophe. True to its word, Central Pattana has carved up the box and is now well into the redevelopment process. Three years on from Isetan’s departure, the space is now alive and kicking again as an ‘urban lifestyle destination’. There is work still left to do and some of the space still looking like it needs a reason to exist, but all credit to the owner for reviving such a big space in such difficult circumstances. Seven levels of reinventions When Isetan departed, there was really no question of replacing it like-for-like with another department store, even in normal times much less in August 2020 when there was no end in sight to the pandemic mayhem. Negotiations proceeded with new tenants but the pandemic dragged out the redevelopment process, so it is still a work in progress.  Central has chopped up the space so that each level now has its own mini-anchor. What’s interesting is that the Japanese theming is still strong on several of the floors, as though the building is still haunted by the ghost of its former occupant. While the Japanese flavour is dominant upstairs, the ground floor has been strikingly Americanised with the presence of a Shake Shack, which has been open for six months, and the impending arrival in December of another American eatery, Cheesecake Factory. Cheesecake, famous for its sharp pricing, mountainous portions, triumphal interior design and heavy metal service culture, is making its first appearance in Thailand, and given Central World’s diverse and affluent customer base — Central World is smack in the middle of the downtown office and retail district on a teeming public transport hub, and incorporates its own office tower and hotel — it seems like the perfect location for Cheesecake Factory to plant its flag. Both Shake Shack and Cheesecake Factory are destination restaurants, but they also have highly visible locations facing out on to the terrace fronting Ratchadamri Road, where they can tease the palates and then juice the calory intake of passers-by. They are separated from each other by a major entrance that gives access behind them to Comma And, an open-plan concept with niche fashion, accessories and beauty brands. Further back still is an entrance to an all-in-one H&M store that includes a superb 66sqm H&M Home. While the ground floor impresses with its new retail and food, upstairs on the second floor wows differently: the centrepiece is The Rink, one of Bangkok’s handful of big ice rinks, which is flanked at one end by a kids play concept, Playmondo. Playmondo is divided into four learn-through-play themed zones: desert, ocean, volcano and forest. The remaining leasable space on the second floor is chopped up into small kids clothing and accessories boutiques. On the third floor is where the Japanese theming comes into play. The original Isetan focused heavily on Japanese merchandise and food, and here the visitor can still enjoy both on ‘Japan Avenue’, essentially a food court featuring Japanese specialties. The floor is anchored by Nippon Market, a premium supermarket with more than 10,000 high-grade imported Japanese items such as sweets and gifts, and specialties like milk from Hokkaido and matcha from Kyoto. There is also a small restaurant inside. The fourth floor is still a disappointing break in the action, but the intrepid visitor who advances to the fifth is rewarded with another Japanese retail masterpiece, Nitori, a 2600sqm home furnishings flagship (pictured above) that is the company’s first store in Thailand. Nitori plans to open a second at Central Westgate later this year. Next up, on the sixth floor, the anchor is one of Kinokuniya’s three Bangkok bookstores (the others are at Siam Paragon and Emquartier). An international food court caps things off on the seventh floor. Lesson learned Shopping centre operators around the world have long seen their major vulnerability coming from two directions: e-commerce, and the decline of their department stores anchors. They are continuing to make headway with the latter, and this effort at Central World is a good example of what can be achieved by zoning and subdividing the empty space. What emerges is a more diverse suite of shopping, dining and entertainment choices for visitors, economically productive space for tenants and more rent for the landlord. In this instance, Central is also doing a good job preserving enough of the Japanese flavour to please customers who would have been disappointed at Isetan’s departure. After all this, visitors who still haven’t had enough of their Japanese fix can also shop at Muji and Uniqlo located elsewhere in the mall. Isetan may be gone, but what it once offered to customers of Central World now has a more dynamic delivery system.