The football tournament last month helped push up sales 20 per cent, according to Suwanchai Lohawattnakul, managing director AFG Asia Fashion Group Co Ltd, S Oliver's sole distributor in the Kingdom.

During last month, Thais that visited Germany for the World Cup and saw the popular brand S Oliver, later reported back to their friends in Thailand about the line of duds, Suwanchai claimed.

The brand is sold in 15 stores in Thailand, including a boutique shop in the Erawan Bangkok shopping plaza. Another shop will open at Isetan department store later this month. The company also expects to open branches in Chiang Mai and Phuket by next year in Central department stores.

Apart from the main S Oliver clothing brand, AFG also sells a sub-brand called QS by S Oliver targeting teenagers. By October, the company will bring out one more sub-brand called Anastasia.

"The retail prices [of Anastasia clothing] will be Bt800 to Bt4,000," Suwanchai said.

Two other brands the company sells are Comma and TSF. Comma is a German brand targeting women and which sells for Bt1,500 to Bt4,500 while TSF is a Swedish brand targeting men and which sells for about the same prices. Suwanchai said the two brands are small niche players. The two brands have only a few shops in Bangkok's downtown. Due to the sluggish economy, the company doesn't have plans to open more branches for them this year.

The company expects sales of Bt60 million this year and Bt100 million next year.

Suwanchai said the current economic situation had made the company more cautious about spending money on advertising and marketing. It plans to spend 10 per cent of its sales this year on advertising and marketing, 20-30 per cent of which will be used to push S Oliver, particularly through magazine advertising.

The company plans to drum up sales by offering discounts, particularly on S Oliver T-shirts and men shirts. The company will also focus on building its "customer relationship management" system by adding a more personal touch to dealing with regular customers.

The average customer spends Bt2,000-Bt3,000 per outing in the company's stores. The company has a membership programme and hopes to see 800 members by the end of the year.

Apart from importing the three clothing brands, Suwanchai also has another business that makes clothing on contract for many brands in Europe, the US and Asia. Sales this year are expected to reach Bt250 million.

Nitida Asawanipont

 The Nation