Thailand lacks a Costco presence but offers a local equivalent through Tops Club, launched by Central Retail in 2022. Tops Club operated as a membership-based service, including online access, and carried imported products, exclusive items, bulk-packaged goods, and even Costco's Kirkland Signature products. The service aimed to deliver lower per-unit prices by selling larger quantities. Before its physical stores closed on 23 October 2023, the store layout mirrored typical warehouse formats with wide aisles, high shelves, and a focus on utility, value, and variety rather than upscale presentation, cultivating a treasure-hunt shopping vibe.
If you're a Costco patron, you'll know the wholesale retailer for the well-known brands it carries on its shelves, the wide variety of products, the good prices it offers, and more notably, its membership-oriented approach to retail. With over 900 warehouses across 14 countries, Costco is widely found. One of the countries that doesn't have Costco, however, is Thailand - but there is a local equivalent where Thai consumers can get the value and convenience of bulk shopping.
It was launched by Central Retail in 2022 to replicate the warehouse-style shopping experience popularized by American wholesale giants. Like Costco, Tops Club is a membership-based club, even in its online form, that offers imported products, exclusive items, and bulk-packaged goods. Patrons are even able to purchase Costco's Kirkland Signature products, and it also aims to deliver value by selling items in larger quantities at lower per-unit prices.
Prior to the closure of its physical stores, Tops Club's interior layout and shopping experience almost mirrored Costco's formula: wide aisles, high shelves stacked with household staples, and an emphasis on variety over branding. And the shopping environment didn't incorporate all the bells and whistles of a high-end supermarket, but focused rather on utility, value, and scale - but with a treasure hunt vibe, as they layout changed regularly.
Collection
[
|
...
]