SERVICES / HOSPITALITY

Body Shape owner plans boutique hotel

PITSINEE JITPLEECHEEP

The owner of Body Shape slimming centres is expanding into the hotel business, spending 400-500 million baht to build a boutique resort on the tourist island of Koh Phangan in Surat Thani. Pranee Suebwonglee, president of Body Shape Corporation Co, said she saw a huge market opportunity in the hotel business, which it expected to contribute long-term income.

The company will set up a new joint-venture firm to run the hotel. It is now working on the design and seeking a construction permit for its 10-rai site. Completion is expected to take two years.

''I choose to develop a hotel in Koh Phangan because I love the sea. The market demand on Koh Phangan is still huge though it has many cottages and resorts,'' said Mrs Pranee, wife of former government spokesman Surapong Suebwonglee.

The company will also continue to expand its Body Shape slimming centre business but Mrs Pranee plans to gradually turn over the day-to-day operation of the business to her husband.

Dr Surapong has already stamped his identity on the business by introducing two Body Shape for Men branches in Bangkok, with better-than-expected feedback. Spending per course is between 50,000 and 100,000 baht, compared with 20,000 to 50,000 baht at the original Body Shape centres.

As a result, the company will double the number of men's outlets to four by the end of this year. Three more Body Shape slimming centres in the original format are also planned to open this year if the economic outlook improves.

Each slimming centre, with retail space of 200 square metres, requires an investment of 15 million baht. Outlet expansion is expected to start in the second quarter, a slight delay from the earlier plan.

Currently, the company operates 25 Body Shape centres in all formats nationwide and 19 under its sister brand Kristie France, aimed at a medium- to lower-income clientele. By year-end, the company expects to have 30 Body Shape outlets and 37 Kristie France locations.

Apart from new slimming centres, the company plans to introduce two new products in the second quarter and to start exporting its firming and weight-loss products to Indonesia. Talks are under way for distribution in Hong Kong as well.

If all the plans bear fruit, the company expects its sales to increase by 25% this year.

Thailand's slimming business is estimated to be worth 1.5 billion to two billion baht annually.

Bangkok Post
Wednesday January 31, 2007