Japanese retailer Aeon will increase its stores in Thailand from 76 supermarkets to 500 by 2020.
The announcement comes as the company ahs scaled back its 2015 expansion plans, downgrading the planned 30 new stores to 15 new stores.
The majority of Aeon’s stores operate under the MaxValu brand, with 8 per cent of the new stores to be MaxValu min-supermarkets.
Aeon’s general manager Keiji Ono told the Bangkok Post that the retailer would invest up to US$12.3m on refurbishing older stores and establishing new outlets.
'We will penetrate the market in provinces in the Northeast such as Ubon Ratchathani and Udon Thani in order to exploit the expected economic boom from the coming regional pact of the Asean Economic Community,' Ono told the Post, adding that new MaxVAlu stores would be opening in Laem Chabang and Pattaya this year.
