Tops Supermarket Explained

Tops Supermarket
Type:Private
Industry:Food retailing
Hq Location Country:Thailand

Tops is a grocery chain in Thailand. Co-founded by the then-parent of U.S.-based Tops Markets LLC, the chain is operated under the name Tops Supermarket in Thailand by Central Food Retail, a subsidiary of Central Retail Corporation. In addition to Tops Supermarket, some branches are called Tops Superstore, Tops Market, Tops Market Food & Wine, Tops Daily and Central Food Hall. It is the largest supermarket chain in Thailand and operates 235 stores nationwide.

History

The company was established as CRC Ahold Co., Ltd. in 1996 by integration of Robinson Department Store and Central Group supermarket business and formed a joint venture with Royal Ahold Co., Ltd., a Netherlands-based supermarket operator, owning a 49 percent stake.[1] The stores were renamed Tops Supermarket,[2] [3] which Ahold borrowed from its U.S. supermarket holding, Tops Markets, but did not reuse its red diamond logo.[4] In December 1996 and 1998, Robinson sold all of its invested shares to Ahold.[5] In 2004, Ahold sold its stake to Central as part of the Dutch company's withdrawal from Asia.[6]

In 2004, Central converted 20 former Food Lion locations to Tops after their parent, Delhaize Group, closed its Thailand supermarket operations.[7] [8] In 2023, Central's franchise agreement with Japan's convenience store chain FamilyMart ended, and its roughly 200 FamilyMart stores in Thailand were to be converted to the Tops Daily brand.[9]

Store types

Notes and References

  1. News: Royal Ahold Buys Stake In Thailand Venture. 14 August 1996. The New York Times. Bloomberg Business News. 18 May 2022.
  2. News: Pichayaporn. Utumporn. Ahold to Acquire Rest of Venture With Thai Partner Central Retail. 27 May 1998. The Wall Street Journal. 17 May 2022. The two-year-old joint venture, CRC Ahold, operates Tops Supermarket, which currently has 38 branches in Thailand..
  3. Web site: Tops celebrates 25th Anniversary with surprises for customers all year. 12 January 2021. Central Retail Corporation. 17 May 2022. For the past 25 years, Central Food Retail Company Limited has stood firmly by consumers in Thailand through countless moments since 1996 as a pioneer and changemaker of the supermarket industry in Thailand, with the launch of what was then known as Tops Supermarket, the first brand in Thailand to receive Asian supermarket standard..
  4. News: Carolyn. Raeke. TOPS NEVER STOPS -- NOW IT'S IN THAILAND. 16 August 1996. Buffalo News. 17 May 2022. While Ahold will borrow the Tops name for its new Asian division, it will not be using the familiar red diamond logo, or the full trademark Tops Friendly Markets title..
  5. Web site: Robinson Annual Report 2011. Robinson. 20 August 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160918083014/http://robins.listedcompany.com/misc/AR/20120404-ROBINS-AR2011-EN.pdf. 18 September 2016. 21.
  6. News: Ahold sells Thai unit, completes withdrawal from Asia. 3 March 2004. Just Food. 17 May 2022.
  7. Web site: Food Lion stores to carry Tops name. 10 September 2004. Campaign Asia-Pacific. 17 May 2022.
  8. News: Food Lion Supermarket Chain Quits Thailand. 20 August 2016. Agence France-Presse. 2004-08-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20160827191550/http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/14629-food-lion-supermarket-chain-quits-thailand/. 27 August 2016.
  9. News: Kenya. Akama. Japan's FamilyMart exits Thailand as 7-Eleven's dominance grows. 11 August 2023. Nikkai Asia. 16 August 2023.
  10. Pete. Russell. Ron. Margulis. 25 Stores to Visit Before You Die. January-February 2016. Canadian Grocer. 20. 17 May 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20181212050502/http://idsdesign.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/25stores-CG.pdf. 12 December 2018. live.
  11. Web site: About Tops daily [sic]]. Central Food Retail Co Ltd. 4 February 2016.

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