incipal rivals in the lifestyle category, the Thai home-grown chain Moshi Moshi. Indeed, Moshi Moshi is not far away: it has a store in Chamchuri Square, which is another mixed-use development 350 metres to the east of Samyan Mitrtown and just south of Chulalongkorn’s Business School. The two retailers look like they are going to be cheek-by-jowl as Oh!Some rolls out its concept in Thailand.  The Oh!Some store in Samyan Mitrtown is a light, cheerful place on the third floor. It lacks some of the interactive pizzazz of some other recently opened Oh!Some stores, including the one in Phnom Penh that opened late last year, but this doesn’t detract from its appeal. Everyday items become little works of art Apart from the toys and some of the home decor items, much of Oh!Some’s assortment consists of very  functional everyday items that have been imaginatively redesigned into little works of art, an effect which is enhanced by the packaging. The prices are at the accessible end, exactly where they need to be for students that form Oh!Some’s most prized target market. Still, Oh!Some doesn’t take any chances: as for Moshi Moshi, new product development occurs at a ferocious pace so there is always a bait for return visits and the stores are always fresh. Product categories include toys, health and beauty products, stationery, costume jewelry, bags, action figures, snacks, beverages, digital accessories, and home decor. Many of the products are festooned with licensed Disney characters and other cartoon personalities that have been popularised through the social media channels that Oh!Some’s target customers frequent, particularly TikTok, Instagram and You Tube. Products are sourced primarily from Korea, Japan and China. The Oh!Some stores are big enough to enable not just a strong assortment in each category but ample walking room between displays. Thus, even when the store is crowded, it doesn’t feel like it is.  From an environmental standpoint, some of the merchandise is not exactly well chosen, particularly home decor products that have enough plastic to sink a battleship. Toys, of course, have always been made from plastic since they replaced wooden and metal toys as the dominant material after World War 2, but this is 2025 and you can’t help but feel a little over-plasticked browsing the big selection of Rolife toys on the rear wall. A well-chosen location Still, there is no question that Oh!Some has nailed it with it this store and its initial foray into Thailand with these two Bangkok will be just a small taste of things to come. This rollout will not be glacial, particularly if it can find enough locations even half as good as these. Chulalongkorn University has an enrolment of more than 40,000 students, and there are a lot of office and residential towers in the area so the catchment is outstanding. Some of the co-tenants for the Oh!Some store are outstanding too: large-format Uniqlo and Muji stores are also located in the mall, and there is a good selection of eateries for the meal-time traffic, which is formidable. Moshi Moshi has a big head start Moshi Moshi, whose supply chain like Oh!Some is heavily oriented toward China, is well established in Thailand and has been operating here for decades, so it has an enviable understanding of the market on a local basis and is adept at responding to, and riding the wave of, new trends. Its store fleet in Thailand is heading up toward 200, and it occupies prime locations in many regional and community malls throughout the country. This means it has a big head start over Oh!Some but neither will be intimidated by the presence of the other: the lifestyle category is booming in the region, and there is a big and growing market for the products at these price points. There will be enough to go around.  Tourism is the fly in the ointment In addition to the heavy local foot traffic, retailers like Oh!Some and Moshi Moshi like tourists, which is a strong secondary target customer group for them. This is an area of concern right now in Thailand, with international tourist arrivals down by 6 per cent this year, unexpectedly. While the country had originally been expecting a shade under 40 million visitors this year, according to government forecasts, that estimate has now been clawed back to less than 34 million. The whole retail industry in Thailand is vexed about it.  There have been a number of unhelpful events that are keeping tourists away, particularly the big-spending Chinese who are being scared off by safety concerns, scams, border conflicts and other well-publicised incidents. In 2019, 11 million people from Mainland China visited Thailand, but this year, fewer than half of that is expected.  This is possibly less a concern for Oh!Some than it is for Moshi Moshi, since Oh!Some is a regional player with a presence in neighbouring countries where tourism is rising, while Moshi Moshi is, for the moment, only present in Thailand. As much as Oh!Some and Moshi Moshi like tourists, they are experts at diversifying their customer base with assortments that appeal to a broader demographic that students and young office workers. Many stores are located in suburban malls and neighbourhood hypermarket-anchored centres, where they can lob larger stores at lower rental rates and enjoy being a major destination for local communities. Both retailers also know that it is easier and less expensive to keep existing customers who visit the store repeatedly than to drum up new ones. Thus, keeping the new product pipeline running smoothly is key to their success.