Rags to riches

The owner of the Gempeace by Chuchai stores started his working life at 16 making souvenirs for sale to tourists. He now has two of the capital's most fashionable jewellery outlets - and a Bt200m home

Chuchai Chairitthilert, 45, began 10 years ago with just Bt10,000. Now he has two of Bangkok's most fashionable jewellery stores: Gempeace by Chuchai, in The Emporium shopping complex on Sukhumvit Road and in Peninsula Plaza on Rajdamri Road. Catering to the high end of the domestic market, the stores make several hundred million baht a year.

Chuchai began his working life when he was 16.

"My father passed away when I was young," he says. "My older sister had to take care of the family by working hard to sell souvenirs on the underground floor of Indra Plaza in Pratunam. I had to help her, selling products to tourists."

It was a job driven by necessity, to feed and clothe a family of 13, including his mother.

Chuchai explains that his English is poor because he didn't learn it at any school; he picked it up while trying to talk to tourists buying from his sister's souvenir shop.

In an effort to improve the souvenir business, he suggested to his sister that she also sell jewellery, by arranging supplies from one of their father's old customers. Initial sales at the tiny shop in Indra Plaza were successful, and taking a special interest in the trade, Chuchai began to learn how to design jewellery by taking special orders from some customers. Slowly, over nearly 20 years, he became more a jewellery designer than a small-shop retailer.

His big chance came when a foreign customer asked to buy some jewellery watches.

"A former customer wanted to buy some jewellery watches, but my sister's shop didn't stock them. I said I would find them for him, and my profit from the deal was Bt10,000."

Chuchai used the money to start his own business. He set up shop in Indra Plaza near his sister's souvenir shop, selling jewellery and making jewellery to order. He learned not only how to design jewellery, but also how to make jewellery that was different from everything else selling at Indra Plaza.

Then he expanded his business channels by taking part in a jewellery fair organised by the Export Promotion Department, in 1997. Chuchai generated sales of Bt2 million from the five-day event and gathered an entirely new group of customers. They, in turn, recommended him to their friends, and Chuchai has never looked back.

The difference he offers is exclusive design. "When I design my jewellery, I keep in mind the customer who will buy it. My jewellery reflects my customer's character, and that means it is one of a kind," he says.

Appreciation for the individuality of his designs spread, and Chuchai began to think of his own up-market store. He recalls that The Emporium was the main shopping centre catering to the high-end market that appreciated his jewellery, so he thought of it as his only likely location. At the same time, the management of The Emporium expressed interested in his products and invited him to establish a business there.

"When the deal to open a shop in The Emporium was concluded in 1997, I opened counters there and created the brand name Gempeace by Chuchai. I succeeded in achieving Bt2 million in sales in the first week, so I believed my business would be successful," he says.

Three years after opening at The Empo-rium, Chuchai expanded his business to a second outlet in the World Trade Centre, and although it succeeded in sales to both domestic and foreign customers, it closed down when ownership of the centre changed from the Wang Phetchabun Group to the Central Group. To replace the World Trade Centre branch, he took Gempeace by Chuchai to Peninsula Plaza.

Chuchai declines to disclose his stores' annual revenues but says a measure of his success is his recent completion of a Bt200-million house in Lat Phrao Soi 81.

"If you're sincere with your customers and work hard, you will get the best gift for your life," he says. "My home is my gift from my work, and I continue to enjoy both my work and my life, though I'm an uneducated person who has never attended a higher institution."

Somluck Srimalee

Thailand News
The Nation Thailand
Friday January 26, 2007