Bata Thailand Co, the local arm of the global footwear company, is rebranding its image to become more modernised in a move to lure younger customers.
Roberto Longo, president of Bata Asia-Pacific, said the company is renovating the Bata store at Fashion Island mall in the Ram Intra area to have a similar image to Bata in Europe, before gradually rolling out more stores in the future.
The company plans to launch a new store concept in Thailand in the second half of the year. The store will offer a large selection of trendy, comfortable and affordable shoe lines, unlike typical Bata stores that sell a broad range of products for schoolchildren, men and women, including sports product lines.
The move is an attempt to make Bata more attractive to Thai youth.
"Thailand has a large population and Thai women are very fashionable," Mr Longo said. "Moreover, the middle class is growing and Thailand is also a leading tourist destination."
Bata has been in Thailand for 90 years. It has a factory in Lat Krabang Industrial Estate. The company also imports shoes to sell in Thailand. There are 256 Bata shops nationwide.
Bata is a family-owned business serving more than 1 million customers a day in 5,300 stores and producing locally at 23 Bata-owned manufacturing facilities across five continents.
Bata operates in almost 100 countries and sells 220 million pairs of shoes a year.
Mr Longo said Thailand is one of Bata's strategic markets, along with Italy, India, South Africa and Chile.
"Bata Thailand delivered a targeted result in 2018, with both sales and brand image improvements," he said. "We are confident 2019 will be another good year for Bata, both in Thailand and Asia-Pacific."
The company plans to increase sales via e-commerce. Bata has opened five shops in Thailand this year, including the latest at a Tesco Lotus in Tak.
