FASHION SHOPS PLANNED FOR SKYTRAIN

       ICC International, the trading and manufacturing arm of Saha Group, is interested in opening permanent shops for branded fashion products at Skytrain stations.
       "Similar to the Japanese, Bangkokians today have a rushed lifestyle and always require greater convenience," executive director Nonglak Techabunanek said yesterday.
       It would be the first time for ICC to tap the new sales channel of mass rapid transit, which carries heavy traffic of potential shoppers. The Skytrain retail outlets would cater very well to their changing urban lifestyle, she said.
       About 80-90 per cent of the company's sales are from department stores, and 10 per cent from other modern retail channels such as hypermarkets.
       The company also started a TV-shopping channel at the beginning of this year, but the sales contribution is still small.
       Community centres are another potential retail channel of interest to the company.
       "Our sales in the first eight months are flat compared to the same period last year. We also expect our full-year sales to be flat or enjoy slight growth to about Bt10.05 billion this year," she said.
       Surapong Laoha-unya, director and chief operating officer of Bangkok Mass Transit System (BTS), the operator of the Skytrain, said the transit system now attracts 400,000-500,000 passengers a day on average, which is up from about 380,000 last year.
       "Our passengers have increased significantly by 5-7 per cent year on year in the first eight months of this year. We expect our sales to reach nearly Bt4 billion this year, of which over 90 per cent will be from passenger tickets and the rest from the lease of retail and advertising space to vendors," he said.
       ICC International, in cooperation with BTS and VGI Global Media, will organise the "ICC Sky Shopping Rally" at three major stations - Siam, National Stadium and Ploenchit - from September 28-October 4.
       All major fashion brands manufactured and distributed by ICC - including BSC, Wacoal, Arrow, Guy Laroche, Getaway, Elle, Naturalizer, Speedo, Absorba and Enfant - will be available at the stations for the first time at a huge discount of 30-60 per cent.
       Marut Arthakaivalvatee, CEO of VGI Global Media (Thailand), said the company had been appointed by BTS to manage the marketing, shop areas and advertisements at its stations.
       Specialising in transit and in-store media, VGI Global Media expects its overall sales to grow 15-20 per cent this year to about Bt1.2 billion.
       "Our direction is to focus on our specialised format of digital-based semi-outdoor media," he said.