B-QUIK PLANS RAPID EXPANSION IN ALL DIMENSIONS

       Leading auto-maintenance and light-repair operator B-Quik will spend Bt160 million to open new stores and improve existing facilities.
       Of that amount, Bt100 million will be used to open eight new stores and the rest to upgrade existing ones.
       CEO Henk Kiks said there were now 57 B-Quik stores in Thailand and that up to six more would be built this year.
       "Currently, we have 57 stores. This weekend, we'll open No 58 at Carrefour Rama II, our second store on Rama II Road.
       "At the end of October or beginning of November, we'll open No 59 at Big C Pattaya; end of November, No 60 at Carrefour Superhighway in Chiang Mai; then in December, No 61 at Big C Klong 6 in Rangsit, No 62 at Esso Bang Na-Trat km 2 and possibly another store upcountry," Kiks said.
       B-Quik has already started its expansion with new stores this year at Central Chon Buri and Carrefour Hang Dong in Chiang Mai. Eight more are planned for the South and Northeast next year, he said.
       B-Quik will also replace its Jusco Pattanakarn store with a much larger one, expand its Ekamai Express to full size and renovate and upgrade 10 other stores.
       Kiks said B-Quik sales were up 30 per cent year on year to date and that full-year revenue was targeted at Bt2 billion.
       The only chain to offer all major brands of tyres, the company plans to sell 500,000 this year. Brands include Michelin, Bridgestone, Goodyear, Continental, Dunlop, Yokohama, Falken, Firenza and Nitto, as well as B-Quik's own brand, Thunderer.
       "This is another reason major department stores and superstores prefer to have us," Kiks said.
       He said the rapid expansion was because superstores and shopping centres had begun to understand B-Quik stores attracted customers.
       "They're starting to realise that we not only are an addition to the shopping experience, but also have become a magnet for them, since we serve more than 1,000 customers a month in our bigger stores - 40,000 cars a month in total. These are high-profile customers and very good to have for superstores and shopping centres," he said.
       "So it has slowly turned around over the years from us going after hypermarkets, supermarkets and shopping centres to them asking us to build with them."