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Central Group is a Thai multinational conglomerate founded by Tiang and Samrit Chirathivat in 1947 and still privately owned by the Chirathivat family as of 2025. Tiang Chirathivat emigrated from Hainan Island to Bangkok in 1925, opened a first shop in the Thon Buri district, then established a store near the Mandarin Oriental Hotel with his eldest son Samrit in 1947. In 1956, the family opened Central Department Store in Wang Burapa, Bangkok - the largest department store in Thailand at the time. Central Group's publicly traded subsidiaries include Central Retail, Central Pattana (commercial real estate development), and Central Plaza Hotel (hospitality). Its privately held subsidiaries operate prestigious European department stores plus financial services and ASEAN e-commerce.
Note: YAML parent_company field shows "selfridges-group" - Central Group is the parent of the Selfridges Group, not the other way around. This appears to be a data inversion error. YAML preserved as found.
Note: YAML location field shows "United Kingdom" - Central Group is headquartered in Bangkok, Thailand. This appears to be a placeholder data error. YAML preserved as found.
Design direction across Central Group's retail portfolio is curated through individual store brand identities (Selfridges' creative retail concept, La Rinascente's Italian fashion sensibility, etc.) rather than a centralised group aesthetic. The conglomerate model applies brand-appropriate visual identities to each store.
Central Group's European luxury department store portfolio (private subsidiaries):
Arnotts, Brown Thomas, De Bijenkorf, and Selfridges are held as a joint venture with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF): Central Group 60%, PIF 40%.
Central Retail (public subsidiary) operates Big C (1993), Central Department Store (1927), Robinson Department Store (acquired 1995), Tops supermarket (1996), Zen (1989, rebranded to Central 2019), and others across Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia. Central Pattana (founded 1980) operates shopping centres including CentralWorld (Bangkok, 2002, first super-regional mall in Bangkok) and Central Embassy (Bangkok, 2014). The portfolio spans Malaysia (Central i-City) and extends to planned openings through 2026-2027. Central Plaza Hotel operates hotels under Centara brands (Centara Reserve, Centara Grand, etc.) plus Park Hyatt Bangkok, Hilton Pattaya, and co-investment in StayFactory Hotel Group (Japan). Restaurant chains include Mister Donut, KFC, Auntie Anne's, Pepper Lunch, Yoshinoya, Ootoya, Tenya, and Katsuya.
As a conglomerate:
Central Group is the parent of Selfridges Group (Selfridges, Brown Thomas, Arnotts, De Bijenkorf), held as a 60/40 joint venture with Saudi PIF following Signa Holding's insolvency (2023-2024). La Rinascente and the German KaDeWe Group stores are private Central Group subsidiaries. Globus (Switzerland) acquired 2020. Brown Thomas held since 1983.
Central Group is one of the largest retail and commercial property conglomerates in Southeast Asia and among the most significant holders of European luxury department store brands. Its portfolio of historic European stores (Selfridges, KaDeWe, La Rinascente, Brown Thomas, De Bijenkorf, Illum) positions it as a major force in premium retail across Western Europe. Within ASEAN, it is the dominant department store, mall development, and hospitality group in Thailand.
Central Group is relevant to SPD primarily as the owner of major European luxury department stores - collectively among the most significant fashion and surface design retail environments in Europe:
Together, these stores constitute a European network of premium SPD retail environments. Central Village Luxury Outlet (Bangkok, 2019) and CentralWorld extend the group's luxury fashion retail infrastructure into Southeast Asia. Central Embassy (Bangkok, 2014) is Thailand's leading ultra-luxury retail destination.
Central Group is a Thai multinational conglomerate founded by Tiang and Samrit Chirathivat in 1947 and still privately owned by the Chirathivat family as of 2025.
Central Group is one of the largest retail and commercial property conglomerates in Southeast Asia and among the most significant holders of European luxury department store brands.
Central Group is the parent of Selfridges Group (Selfridges, Brown Thomas, Arnotts, De Bijenkorf), held as a 60/40 joint venture with Saudi PIF following Signa Holding's insolvency (2023-2024). La Rinascente and the German KaDeWe Group stores are private Central Group subsidiaries. Globus (Switzerland) acquired 2020.
Central Group's European luxury department store portfolio (private subsidiaries): Illum (Denmark, est. 1891, acquired 2013) Alsterhaus, Kaufhaus des Westens (KaDeWe), Oberpollinger (Germany, acquired 2015 from KaDeWe Group) La Rinascente (Italy, est. 1865, acquired 2011) Arnotts (Ireland, est.
Thailand