Bangkok--16 May--Bangkok Public Relations
Creates a new phenomenon in Thailand by inviting everyone to 'come play with us' and offering the power of creativity to explore and discover one's own style
Bht 300 million budget for expect the unexpected grand opening
First rollout in Thailand of many famous brands, including everyday products, trend products, innovative products & services, sustainable products, collaborative and Absolute Siam products
Lots of interactive activities and surprise experiences created through technology
Siam Piwat Co., Ltd., the owner and operator of prestige retail developments such as Siam Paragon, Siam Center, Siam Discovery, and Paradise Park, as well as the joint venture partner of ICONSIAM, today, announced that Siam Discovery will open its doors as Thailand's largest lifestyle specialty store and 'The Biggest Arena of Lifestyle Experiments' on May 28th 2016 after a Bht 4,000 million renovation.
Siam Piwat will spend Bht 300 million on the grand opening event and opening promotions, which also aim to support Bangkok's appeal as the retail hub of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and help make the city a favourite shopping destination for the world.
Mr. Charnchai Cherdchuwongthanakorn, Senior Executive Vice President – Retail Business Development, Siam Piwat Co., Ltd. said: "The new Siam Discovery marks the introduction to Thailand of a new retail concept: a hybrid retail destination that is spread across 40,000 square metres. We expect to double our sales per square metre with the new concept as well as reinforce our reputation as a thought-leader in Thailand's retail sector creating unprecedented destinations that compete with the best of the world's destinations."
Siam Discovery – The Exploratorium will be The Biggest Arena of Lifestyle Experiments packed with exhilarating experiences that say 'come play with us' to visitors. People can come in to experiment and discover what they like and what expresses their own identity best. Without the constraints of a particular brand or school of design, products are brought together under a single universal concept that puts customers at the centre; everything at Siam Discovery is presented by visitor's interest. From among a choice of more than 5,000 international and local brands of every price range, customers can conveniently choose, mix, match, try, and then try again so that their purchases are in line with their taste and needs.
First launch in Thailand for many famous global brands
Mr. Charnchai said, "Exciting experiences which offer everyone the opportunity to discover and experiment with new ideas are spread across the venue on all eight floors of Siam Discovery. Each floor has its own personality. The G floor is called Her Lab. It offers modern fashion goods and services for ladies. The M floor is called His Lab and is the answer to all the needs of gentlemen. The 1st floor is called Street Lab. It offers a fine selection of street-style products. The 2nd floor is called Digital Lab. It offers products that strike a chord with the digital generation. The 3rd floor is called Creative Lab. It offers inspiration and encourages creativity. The 4th floor is called Play Lab and offers new dimensions of fun while being a community for people with the same lifestyle to share their experiences with each other. Most of the 5th and the 6th floors will host Virgin Active Fitness.
Highlight brands or stores in five different categories are as follows: 1) Everyday Products 2) Trend Products 3) Innovative Products & Services 4) Sustainable Products and 5) Collaborations and Absolute Siam Products.
Everyday Products that meet all needs e.g. O.D.S. (Object of Desire Store) – a multi-brand home decorative store that offers famous items for home decoration. Siam Discovery in partnership with the Department of Export Promotion has selected outstanding products and designs from award-winning designers. Over 160 brands are on offer on 600 square metres of space. The new Loft will be unveiled with a new design concept for the first time in the world. It is designed by world-renowned designer Nendo and Loft Japan's ace designers. A wide range of products are on offer, including stationeries, IT products and accessories, health and beauty products as well as Loft's private-label products. Over 80% of the imported products are from Japan. Nike – the popular brand of sporting goods – will open the latest and only concept store in Southeast Asia offering a full line of products, including a selection of new technology products to be made available at Siam Discovery ahead of other locations. It offers personalized embroidery services for names on shoes or shirts as well as a bra selecting innovation for ladies who love to exercise. Barberford Noir offers complete grooming services including haircut, shaving, manicure, and face massage for gentlemen. Skin Lab provides a full range of skin care, perfume, and cosmetics for ladies and gentlemen alike, as well as organic products for those who care about the environment. Gurus who are truly knowledgeable about products are on hand to give advice as friends would recommend good things to friends.
Trend Products include Issey Miyake which will open its first concept store outside of Japan, called the World of Issey Miyake. It offers a full line of products including, for the first time in Thailand, Issey Miyake's products for men. World-class popular home decorative brands like Hay, Tom Dixon and Kartell will open their first and only concept stores in Thailand. Artist's Design Products from world-class artists like Yayoi Kusama and Lisa Larson will have their first and only stores in Thailand offering a wide range of products for art fans. CAZH offers a collection of casual and street-style fashion products from many popular local and international brands by leading designers. It includes special personalized jeans design and tailoring service. Pursuit multi-brand store for gentlemen offers fashion goods for smart men and tailor-made suits by skilled professionals. Hackett will have its first concept store in Thailand.
This popular brand of men's fashion from England offers a full range of products for every look and dressing style as well as a customized suit tailoring service. Comme des Garcons will open its largest flagship store in Thailand offering the most complete range of products. Siam Discovery will also be Asian Designer Hub by offering the Best of Tokyo Fashion Week complete with a wide range of finely selected fashion brands from Japan for men and women as well as highlighting some of Asia's finest designers. Among the brands to be launched for the first time in Thailand are Yoshio Kubo, Factotum, Beautiful People, Dressed Undressed and Discord by Yoji Yamamoto. Billboard Cafe will also debut at Siam Discovery. It will be the first time in the world that the world's most recognized music magazine will offer an unprecedented music experience in a cafe designed for music lovers. Advanced technology will be used to present music experiences with a food & drink corner catered by Dean & Deluca and a live radio show.
Innovative Products & Services e.g. Alpha Runner - a sports concept store offer new experiences not to be missed by athletes. It is complete with a wide range of sportswear and special equipment to help with the selection of shoes to suit individual purposes, be it running, cycling or for a triathlon. Dressing Room – an innovative retail service developed by Siam Discovery offers the trendiest personalized experience with a personal stylist provided to help choose fashion products and accessories from a full selection of offerings made available in a private dressing room. Customers need just make advance notification to use the service and identify the theme they prefer for a mix-and-match experiment to find what is right for them. DISCOVERY HUBBA, created by Hubba and Siam Discovery, is a co-working space that offers an idea generation and management innovation space that makes it ideal for sharing ideas and dreams of starting a business. It also offers special activities and workshops as a retail start-up springboard for the new generation. It is another role Siam Piwat is playing in its effort to drive a new model of retailing for the future.
Sustainable Products include tokyobike is a haven for cyclists and their latest downtown community. It is complete with all cycling products and equipment as well as a customized bicycle fitting service. Test ride space and a bike park are available reinforcing Siam Piwat's commitment to supporting eco-friendly vehicles and cyclists; Starbucks Coffee at Siam Discovery is more special than any other Starbucks location in Thailand. It comes with a concept that places importance on social responsibility. It pursues fair trade where the coffee offered has been directly purchased from farmers to sell to consumers. It offers coffee drip for hard-core fans of coffee in an atmosphere designed exclusively for Siam Discovery. With attention to the environment, coffee scrub is recycled into in-store furniture. Veda Salon by Aveda, the world-class brand of organic cosmetics, is created for the first time with the addition of a head spa as a special signature service exclusively available for the first time and only at Siam Discovery.
Collaborations and Absolute Siam Products, are exclusively available at Siam Discovery. They offer an experience one cannot find anywhere else. Products in this category include Toys Station which will turn Siam Discovery into the second home for people with a passion for toys and toy design. It is a community for sharing knowledge and collectibles. In addition, there is a collaboration between Toys Station and Sony to officially represent Play Station to endlessly surprise gamers. Cafe Now by Propaganda, a collaboration between Propaganda and 'Chef Bo' Duangporn Songvisava, serves delicious foods in a constantly fun setting with grocery for sale to diners. Must Love Mac, a first concept store, will be a community for Mac lovers offering a full range of equipment and accessories with personalized iPhone and MacBook Cases and only available at Siam Discovery. Adidas' largest concept store in Thailand is also at Siam Discovery and has an interactive store concept with exclusive collections made available for fans. Famous sneaker brands like Vans, Palladium, Converse and Asics will offer their latest collections at Siam Discovery before anywhere else. Among those collections is Palladium's special collection of only 240 pairs produced in memory of the famous artist – Jackson Pullock; the Vans x Nintendo Games collection is set to be launched for the first time at Siam Discovery; and a renowned graffiti artist – Alex Face – has been invited by Converse to create the most special personalized sneakers. Mos Bag, the famous brand of leather goods offers personalized services where customers can have their favourite items inscribed with their names and personalized prints.
Siam Piwat will also introduce some of the most exciting new approaches to dining. Food and beverage outlets will be closely integrated with retail and activities areas. Siam Discovery will dedicate, in total, more than 2,500 square metres to food and beverage across the entire building. It will also introduce to Thailand one of the world's most famous dining brands which will be sensational when launched.
Different with unique offering
Allows everyone to experience what they have never seen before
Mr. Charnchai said, "What makes Siam Discovery different is that it offers a lot of exciting experiences throughout the venue. Products are presented as part of a story-telling narrative that is engaging and interesting. They share a products source of inspiration, its vision for the future, or small anecdotes behind its creation. Innovative digital technology is used to offer personalized experiences and communicate with customers in a friend-to-friend tonality. Visitors are invited to experiment with new ideas, to chat, advise and share stories to make a visit more fulfilling. Everyone is allowed to adapt, play and create products to suit their preferences and tastes. Siam Discovery also offers an interactive community of ideas for the new generation as well as a hangout for like-minded people to share their experiences and build relationships."
Breaks all the rules in grand opening
General public invited to experience before others
Mr. Charnchai said "Siam Piwat has invested Bht 300 million in the grand opening to make it the event of the year. It will be the first time in the retail industry that a specialty store with a massive area of over 40,000 square metres will launch by getting selected members of the general public to experience it first, before the official opening. Siam Discovery is inviting 500 members of the public via www.siamdiscovery.co.th. Those selected will be invited to explore the new Siam Discovery on 24 May 2016. Before the opening, Discovery Man, 7 metres tall, will go on a roadshow to major locations in Bangkok. Among them are Chatuchak Park, Sathorn-Narathiwas overpass, Silom and Parc Paragon. There will be a lot of fun activities to draw attention of to its exclusive preview on 26 May 2016, before the grand opening on 28 May 2016."
Siam Discovery is the biggest arena of lifestyle experiments where every square metre is full of things worth discovering. Every visitor who comes will enjoy new experiences and discover their identity. One of the highlights during the grand opening period is 'Social Discovery' interactive-exhibition created through a collaboration between Siam Discovery and Black Egg – the world renowned creative designer. The exhibition has combined a storytelling concept with digital technology to create an experience under the theme 'When Obsession Becomes Identity'. As a part of this, everyone is invited to find and understand their true self through a presentation of fascinating artistic technology and social media.
Mr. Charnchai added, "Siam Discovery is breaking all the rules of the retail industry in its marketing activities. Siam Discovery, in partnership with Nendo, created Discovery Man who is a representative of everyone who likes to Experiment, Create and Cultivate. At the opening of Siam Discovery, we want everybody to get to know more about Siam Discovery with our Discovery Man Exhibition. Mr. Oki Sato, the world-famous designer from Japan, is not only our chief advisor in charge of the design of the building and its interior, but he is also a curator for the exhibition. What is special is that we have invited 25 famous Thai and international designers to make Discovery Man more vivid and colourful."
It is also the first time in Thailand that Mr. Oki Sato, who is highly respected in the global design community has held a Nendo exhibition. It features exhibits showcasing product design, art installation and architectural design that have all been carefully selected. The exhibition is like an installation waiting to mesmerize everyone. There is a long list of entertainments and interactive activities on every floor of the Biggest Arena of Lifestyle Experiments that is Siam Discovery.
"In the first year Siam Piwat expects 100,000 visitors to the new Siam Discovery per day with 65% being Thais and 35% foreign customers," Mr. Charnchai added.