CentralWorld

About 4 pages (1,161 words)

Facts and statistics
CentralWorld
CentralWorld's new look

Location	Rama I Road, Pathum Wan, Bangkok, Thailand
Opening date	July 21 2006
Developer	Wang Petchaboon
Management	Gobchai Jirathiwat
Owner	Central Group
Total retail floor area	800,000m²
Parking	7000
No. of floors	8 (CentralWorld), 51 (The Offices at CentralWorld), 57 (Centara Grand and Bangkok Covention Center) 20 (ZENWorld), 6 (Isetan)
Website	www.centralworld.co.th

CentralWorld is a large shopping mall and office complex in Bangkok owned by the Central Group. In 2006, after three years of design and renovation, the expanded, 550,000-square-meter mall was opened, topping its nearby rival Siam Paragon in terms of size. The mall is the largest shopping center in Southeast Asia and larger than Hong Kong's Ocean Terminal.

1 History
2 Location
- 2.1 Transportation
3 Facilities
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

History

World Trade Center

Originally called the World Trade Center, the eight-story mall was opened in 1990. The Central Group acquired the property in 2002 from the Wang Petchaboon group and soon thereafter renamed it Central World Plaza and in 2005 rechristened it CentralWorld. It is on Crown Property Bureau land. In its acquisition, the Central Group's property development arm, Central Pattana Plc, secured a new 30-year lease on the site.^[1]

Mall renovations

Anticipating the opening of the luxury Siam Paragon, Central Pattana started massive renovations and expansion on the site in 2003. The original mall structure was 300,000 square meters. The expansion plans boosted that to 550,000 square meters. Though the work hadn't yet been completed, Central held an official opening of the renovated complex on July 21, 2006, and it was expected to be fully operational by October 2006. As of May 2007 the mall has fully opened but some premises in parts of the upper floors remain yet vacant. Major exterior construction is ongoing on the hotel situated in the northwest corner of the mall and the extension floors to the Zen department store in southeast corner. The renovated complex aims to attract 150,000 customers per day, purchasing more than 7 billion baht annually. It is marketing itself as a middle class shopping destination, opposed to the upper class-marketed Siam Paragon. ^[2] ^[3] Central World mainly has High Street brands which target the middle to upper-middle class while Siam Paragon has wider range from High Street to Designer brands which target the middle to high class. Further plans call for a convention center and hotel at the site.

The Offices at CentralWorld

The renovations included completing an unfinished office tower, on which work had been halted in 1999. Only 39 of the total 63 floors had been completed. Construction was resumed in early 2003 with a new 51-floor, 204-meter design. The completed Central World Tower opened in 2005. ^[4]

Location

CentralWorld is located in Pathum Wan district at the Ratchaprasong Intersection in one of Bangkok's busiest shopping and tourism districts. The Gaysorn shopping center and Big C Ratchadamri are opposite CentralWorld on Ratchadamri Road, as is the Erawan Shrine. Amarin Plaza and the Central Chidlom department store are nearby, as are Siam Paragon, Siam Center, MBK Center, Platinum Fashion Mall and Pantip Plaza.

Transportation

Bangkok Skytrain - CentralWorld is located between Chit Lom and Siam stations. An elevated walkway connects the two stations to facilitate foot traffic. Central World also can be accessed from Gaysorn or Big C Ratchaprasong via pedestrian overpasses.
Khlong Saen Saeb - Pratu Nam pier is about a 5-minute walk.

Facilities

Anchors

Isetan - The branch of the Japanese department store chain has six storeys of Japanese products, a supermarket and a restaurant.
Zen - A department store managed by the Central Retail Corporation.

ZEN Mega Store

ISETAN Departmant Store

Retail tenants

There are more than 500 tenants in the complex. As of the renovated mall's grand opening in July 2006, 60% of retail space was occupied, though 90% was expected to be filled by the time the mall became fully operational in July 2007. Approximately 85% of the mall was occupied as of June 2007. Heaven on 7, which is targeted as an indoor/outdoor restaurant zone, was still under construction. Some of the shops include:

Power Buy - A large electronics store selling electrical appliances ranging from refrigerators to home theatre systems. It is located on the fourth floor of the complex.
Super Sports - A large sporting equipment shop.
B2S - The flagship branch of the Central's Thailand-based bookstore chain, it is spread over three floors and offers international and local publications, books, stationery, office supplies and entertainment medias.
Central Food Hall - A premium-level supermarket offering household products, fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy products, butcheries and seafood. There is also a wine cellar, food court and a variety of restaurants and quick eateries within the store.
SB Design Square -
Toys R Us - The flagship store of the brand in Thailand, offering more than 100,000 square meters of imported toys and attractive gadgets and gizmos for teenagers.

Central Food Hall

Entertainment venues

SF World Cinema - A 15-screen state of the art multiplex includes the 800-seat World Max Screen and luxury "first-class" theatres. The venue has played host to a number of Thai cinema premieres as well as the 2007 Bangkok International Film Festival.
TK Park (Thailand Knowledge Park) - A complex that includes a library, Internet centers, 4D movie theatre and other media facilities. Owned and operated by the government of Thailand.

SF World Cinema

Hotel

The new Centara Grand and Bangkok Convention Centre, a 5-star hotel is under construction and will open in the first quarter of 2008. The convention hall opened in July 2007.

References

^ Jitpleecheep, Sukanya. "Plenty of new offerings in store", Bangkok Post Year-End 2002 Economic Review (retrieved July 21, 2006).
^ Nguyen, Lan Anh (July 21, 2006). "Unfinished Central World to hold grand opening", ThaiDay (print edition).
^ Thai News Agency (July 21, 2006). Thailand's largest shopping complex Central World opens July 21, MCOT (retrieved July 22, 2003).
^ Bangkok Highrises - Central World Tower