Black Canyon growth falls to 8%

Written by Gunboy on Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008

PITSINEE JITPLEECHEEP

The lingering political crisis will halve the growth of the Black Canyon restaurant chain in Thailand to 8% this year, managing director Pravit Chitnarapong said yesterday.

He said the sales growth of Black Canyon had slowed since the political situation deteriorated in October. It worsened when the Suvarnabhumi Airport was occupied by People’s Alliance for Democracy last week, resulting in the closure of the three Black Canyon outlets there.

Under normal circumstances, sales of Black Canyon would grow by 15-20% in December but the rate is expected to fall to around 5-10% this year.

“However, we are more fortunate than other coffee chains because we offer both coffee and foods,” Mr Pravit said.

“Moreover, we have up to 190 Black Canyon branches catering to both local and foreign tourists nationwide through various channels such as hospitals, educational institutions and gas stations.”

He remains positive about the coffee and food restaurant business at present. The closure of Suvarnabhumi and the steady decline of petrol prices have encouraged people to travel more in the country.

“Though we lost sales at Suvarnabhumi Airport, our sales at branches like Hua Lamphong railway station and the Southern Bus Terminal showed a 30-40% increase and there was a 400% rise at Chiang Mai Airport,” he said.

Given such positive signs, Mr Pravit said the company would continue to expand its new Black Canyon outlets next year, although it would do so more cautiously.

As people will continue to travel more in the country next year, the company will open 12 new Black Canyon coffee outlets nationwide at PTT Park and PTT Premium petrol stations. Its new outlets require retail space of 30-60 square metres, offering various kinds of products from coffee, foods, ice-cream and bakery products.

Bangkok Post
Wednesday December 03, 2008