Incase, a global bag and accessory brand, yesterday opened its first flagship store in Bangkok.
Terdsak Choedchu-amphai, sales and marketing director of Vgadz Corporation Co, the distributor of Incase bags in Thailand, said the company has spent 3-4 million baht to open the Incase flagship store on the fourth floor of CentralWorld.
"The newly opened Incase at CentralWorld Plaza is part of Incase Design Corporation's overall strategic growth initiative for Asia and furthers the brand's global retail strategy to open new store locations worldwide," said Mike Quinones, global creative director of Incase Design Corporation, during his visit to Thailand yesterday.
Thailand is the third country to host an Incase stand-alone shop after Taiwan and the Philippines.
Incase bags and accessories were made available in the Thai market through kiosks in department stores and resellers such as camera shops and IT stores for several years. Sales in Thailand grew at an average of 10% every year during the past five years.
Many artists in Thailand are willing to work with the company on products designed specifically for the Thai market.
The company decided to open a stand-alone shop in Bangkok to offer various products, from city bags and luggage to camera bags and gadget accessory holders, said Mr Quinones.
Product prices range from 1,000-10,000 baht, about 10% higher than in the US.
Incase product sales reached 50 million baht last year, with the figure expected to grow by 30% this year after opening its first flagship store at CentralWorld.
"Thailand is home to many creative and passionate consumers seeking high-performance and lifestyle-focused products, who have limited brand options available to them. We believe that Incase has tremendous opportunity to grow its Thai customers base," Mr Terdsak said.
After Thailand, Mr Quinones said the company plans to open a flagship store in California this November. After that, more stores will be opened on a step-by-step basis across the world to access more customers.
Incase was founded in 2007 and earned US$56 million (1.86 million baht) from sales last year. The company's products are available via kiosk in department stores, IT outlets, camera and lifestyle shops and all Apple stores worldwide.
There are five Incase shops in Asia-Pacific, three in South Korea and one each in the Philippines and Thailand. The company expects to open another 15-20 new shops over the next five years in the region.
