At the end of 2011, Big C store network consisted 108 hypermarkets (Big C - 92, Big C Extra – 15, and Big C Jumbo - 1), 12 Big C Markets, 51 Mini Big Cs, and 50 Pure branches. Whereas Tesco Lotus had 135 hypermarkets (Tesco Lotus – 99 and Tesco Lotus Value – 36), 130 Talad Lotus branches and 755 Tesco Lotus Express branches. Makro had a total of 52 branches. In late 2011 massive flooding in Thailand created a big impact to the retail business. Big C and its competitors were foreced to close some branches temporary and to postpone opening of some new branches during the last few months of the year. However, when the situation began to improve, the competition resumed to normal, and store openings accelerated during December. Thus, the overall competition of the retail business in 2011 was still intense. This is displayed in the following graphic.
Number of hypermarket branches (end of December 2011)
0 36 %
18 % 46 %
Big C Tesco Lotus Makro 9
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
59
49
98
37 43
Big C
Greater Bangkok
Tesco Lotus
Up Country
Makro
Annual Report
2011
167