Pena Group scales down outlet business

[mahrez26]

Pena House Group, the maker of Pena-brand fashion items and operator of Premium Outlet Cha-am, is scaling down its outlet mall business as the company attempts to improve its business efficacy to weather the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A source from a superslot wallet financial institution who requested anonymity said the owner of Pena House is putting its outlet mall in Udon Thani province worth 350 million baht up for sale to interested buyers as the owner wants to focus more on other stores located in areas with higher potential.

Premium Outlet Udon Thani is on a 12 rai plot of land in Muang district close to Index Living Mall, Home Pro and PowerBuy. It has a sales space of 12,500 square metres.

Pena Group is the pioneer of premium outlet malls in Thailand. Currently, there are four popular outlet mall players in the country with a total space of 200,000 square metres.

They are Pena Premium Outlet Mall; FN Outlet under the Fly Now garment group; Central Pattana's Central Village; and Siam Piwat's Siam Premium Outlet.

Currently, Pena House operates nine premium outlets nationwide in places like Pattaya in Chon Buri; Cha-am in Phetchaburi; Pak Chong in Nakhon Ratchasima; Krabi; Udon Thani, Ayutthaya, Chiang Mai, Phuket and Samui island in Surat Thani, covering a total space of 101,300 square metres.

In 2019, the outlet mall business under the Pena House group generated sales worth 480 million baht.

In addition to the outlet mall business, Pena Group also engages in manufacturing, importing and distributing clothes under brands like Pena, Ten & Co, Hollywood Studio, Timberlands and DC Super Heroes in Thailand. It also operates amusement parks, hotels, restaurant and cafes. With the Covid-19 outbreak impacting tourism-related businesses heavily, a source from Pena House said the company has decided to postpone its plan to renovate existing premium outlet malls.

"Though our outlet mall has really felt the pinch from Covid-19, our bottom line remains intact as we've shifted to sell our products via online channels,'' a source from Pena House Group said.

She said despite the anticipated stiff competition in Thailand's outlet mall business in the future with new players looking to enter the market, it still has market potential because Thailand remains one of the world's most popular tourist destination.