Shilla Duty Free will shortly announce an August opening date for its first overseas downtown duty free store which is nearing completion on the resort island of Phuket in southern Thailand.

 

“Our shop will open in August, we will announce the exact date later,” said a source at GMS Duty Free Co Ltd, the joint venture company that owns the downtown store.

 

“Right now we plan to open the shop in August. The shop will open in the name of Shilla Duty Free, but the company that owns it is GMS Duty Free.”

 

Preparations at the site are now advanced, after construction work began in 2014 and a major staff recruitment and training programme was also launched earlier this year in readiness to open the store.

 

A GEMS GALLERY WILL FEATURE

GMS Duty Free is a joint venture company formed by Shilla Duty Free with local partners, Gems Gallery Group and The Mall Group, to operate the store.

 

The Mall Group is one of Thailand’s leading shopping mall operators with six malls, five of which are in Bangkok and one in northeast Thailand.

 

Gems Gallery Group is a leading Thai jewellery retailer and wholesaler with four showrooms in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya and Phuket.

 

“We are a minor shareholder; our partners want our merchandise procurement and brand name,” explained a Shilla Duty Free source. “The shop will sell perfume and cosmetics, fashion and confectionery. The target is Chinese tourists.”

 

 

SHILLA STORE WILL OPEN IN KATHU

The Shilla Duty Free Phuket store will open in Kathu in central Phuket in a location offering equal distances to all of the island’s main beach resorts. [Kathu – beach pictured above – is the smallest of the three Phuket districts, covering the central part of the island from the west of Phuket Town to Patong and the Kamala beaches-Ed].

 

The shop will comprise a two-storey purpose-built store surrounded by glass walls on three sides, promoting maximum daylight to enter the premises. In addition to perfume and cosmetics, other sections will include luxury fashion, luxury watches and jewellery, general merchandise including confectionery, plus local products and souvenirs.

 

Further details of the luxury brands GMS Duty Free plans to stock are yet to be revealed, although these are expected to include major brands popular with Chinese travellers.

 

“We cannot inform about brands at this time,” replied the GMS Duty Free source when asked about planned luxury boutiques. However, the GMS Duty Free joint venture partner, Gems Gallery Group, is expected to operate a large jewellery section within the downtown store.