I love Big C !
No, I’m not doing my coming out declaring my love for a tattooed rapper with the sweet nickname of Big C. Of course I speak about the supermarkets chain very present in Thailand. I don’t know exactly why but I’m happy every time I go shop there. I spend money and I’m happy. It never happened to me in France!
It is true that the prices at Big C are attractive and encourage you to fill your cart especially when you do the conversion into your home currency. For my last visit in Big C Supercenter 2 weeks ago in Khorat I spent 2,310 baht (about 80 euros) and got three beautiful shirts, a pair of shoes, 5 pairs of socks, a belt, two 4 GB SD cards and 2 boxers and some donuts. You can find everything in Big C supermarkets. Of course it depends on their size, the Supercenter is the most hefty of Big C, although there are a dozen Big C Extra even bigger. Food, clothing, toys, office supplies, appliances, sporting goods, high-tech, ect… The offer is very large. I remember the first time I wanted to cook for Thais friends who wanted to “eat farang” I was planning to cook them spaghetti bolognese. With just a wok, it seemed the easiest thing I could manage to do. I went to several stores before finally finding spaghettis and olive oil… at Big C Supercenter. Okay, I admit, there was no parmesan cheese. I also boughtdelicious ice cream 1 liter containers for 40 bahts. It was the beginning of my love story with Big C (platonic love, of course!). Not to mention the time when I thought I had forgotten my umbrella rummaging through piles of jeans in promotion in Kamphaeng Phet and I just went back to ask at information counter if they found it. They did not and looked really annoyed despite my repeated “may pen rai” . They ended up giving me a nice promotional umbrella. In fact, I left my umbrella at massage parlor of the mall. In Patong, I also bought a MP3 player, much better than the one a street seller wanted to sell me for twice the price of the Big C’s one. And even when a wheel of my suitcase, tired of all the miles I made it roll, committed suicide, it is still in the Big C that I went to buy her replacement. i also took advantage of their current operation offering points giving right to free top quality kitchen knives and I got one worthing 1,000 baht.
I also like the atmosphere, everything is open, there is certainly a security portal and anti-theft devices on some products (that cashiers often forget to remove) but it is mainly for the form. I go every time in the supermarket with my backbag full of personal stuffs and I was never asked to open neither on the way in nor on the way out. I also eat there because there is almost always a food center in the shopping gallery with cheap Thai dishes. Sometimes there is even a massage parlor like the one under the escalator in Kamphaeng Phet (do not forgetyour umbrella there ;)). As I like to say: “a house near the sea and a Big C and I am the happiest man alive!” . In addition, I spend my money with ne bad feelings because Big C is part of the french group Casino and I am French. Apparently everuthing is going well for them since they are planning to invest 5,000,000,000 baht (135 million euros) next year to open 6 hypermarkets, 13 major markets, 150 Mini Big C and 50 drug stores. Then, the chain will have at the end of 2013 119 hypermarkets, 31 major markets, 275 Mini Big C and 140 pharmacies. Mini Big C which will have to struggle to challenge the hegemony of 7 Eleven in the country….
You can find the list of Big C stores locations here.
