Formation of a full-set retail and distribution business group in Thailand:

Development history of the Central Group

Abstract

　Central Group started modern retailing at the earliest stage in the history of Thai retailing, and has formed a “full-set retail and distribution business group” that currently handles a variety of new formats in the retail and distribution industry, including its core business of department stores. This paper traces the business history of the Central Group and clarifies its reality and characteristics. The motivation behind the full-set model was to comprehensively grasp the segmented market under the conditions of a mosaic consumption structure with diverse income levels, and this was made possible by the abundant human resources of the founding family. However, if the group tries to have a full set of various retail and distribution businesses, it may be possible to expect complementary effects in terms of covering different market segments, but synergistic effects will be difficult to achieve, and in fact, discrepancies may arise among the businesses. The sustainability of the current management structure, which is based on a balance between the founding family and specialized managers invited from outside the family, will also be an important issue in the future.