Central commits to B1bn Phuket lifestyle mall

BANGKOK: The Central Group of Companies, Thailand’s biggest retail conglomerate, plans to spend B1 billion to build its first outdoor lifestyle mall in the Bang Tao area of Phuket next year.

Lertvit Pumipitak, the group’s senior executive vice-president of corporate business development, said the company will start to develop Porto de Phuket on 50 rai in Bang Tao in 2019, with construction to be complete by the end the year.

The construction is divided into two phases. The first phase is on 20 rai, focusing on the development of an outdoor lifestyle mall covering 40,000 square metres.

The lifestyle mall will consist of seven features, including a Phuketian Mercado and a Food Hall with eateries, cafes, bars and beverage stores.

Central Food Hall, a restaurant and cafe zone, a multi-design house offering various creative products from top designers around the world, as well as new formats of Supersports, Power Buy, B2S and FamilyMart convenience store are all planned for the mall.

Nick Reitmeier, executive vice-president of Food Hall and international buying for Central Food Retail Co (CFR), the operator of Tops Supermarket and Food Hall, said the company plans to invest B120-150 million to build a new Food Hall at the Porto de Phuket project covering 3,000 square metres.

The group already operates Central Festival, Central Floresta and Robinson department stores and lifestyle centres in Phuket. In addition to Porto de Phuket, the group is building a Zen Department Store in Patong Beach slated to open before the year’s end.

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