with good reason. Its genius is not in offering unusual or uniquely functional items; on the contrary, most of its merchandise is very much everyday stuff. Rather, its genius is in taking everyday, mundane objects, and bringing them to life with simple, pleasing designs that almost compel shoppers to pick them up, turn them over in their hands, and, often, buy. Toothbrush holders, clothes pegs, lunch boxes, backpacks, toiletry bags, simple stuff that serve simple purposes, all transformed into objets d’art. The store design itself has been well thought-through: it has adopted the Japanese model of tidy but playful interiors and exteriors, highly functional but uniquely designed products, and low prices, pretty much perfect for the Thai consumer. Although still a retail minnow by some standards, it has the potential to become a much bigger fish, particularly at the point, which has to be soon, where it breaks out of Thailand and expands into other parts of the region. Businesswise, it has been hitting its financial and operational targets, and has momentum for continued growth in Thailand in the second half of 2024. Another solid quarter Revenue for the first quarter was 695.8 million Thai baht (US$19.3 million), up 23 per cent on the same quarter a year ago. The company is striving for consistent revenue growth of 20 per cent or better, an objective that it was able to achieve yet again. The percentage of sales attributable to wholesale increased from 14 per cent in the first quarter of last year to 16 per cent. The wholesale business consists mainly of its gift and stationary acquisition OK Station, and a wholesale store in Platinum Wholesale Mall, both in Bangkok. Gross margin percentage continues to grow, up to 54.8 per cent from 54.1 in the first quarter of last year. Net profit was 125.4 million baht ($3.5 million), an increase of 45 per cent on last year. Revenue gains were supported by the opening of 33 new stores over the 12 months to get to a fleet of 135 by March 31 and has since expanded still further to 139 units today. Same-store sales growth was less flattering, coming in at 0.4 per cent, although this followed from a gain of 17 per cent in 2023 so the company is now anniversarying an unusually high base year hurdle. The company also cited the continued recovery in tourism as a factor in sales growth. Despite the steep increase in the number of stores and their associated rent and labor costs, selling expenses fell as a percentage of sales, as did administrative expenses. The net profit margin rose sharply to 18.0 per cent from 15.3 per cent last year. Keeping the excitement level high New product development is a focus for the company as it strives to keep the excitement level up to attract frequent visits by its shoppers. Products are mostly targeting young females and children: many of the customers are in there buying gifts for young ones. Merchandise is mostly exclusive to Moshi Moshi and lumped into 12 categories: home accessories, bags, stationery, cosmetics, fashion accessories, beauty, apparel (primarily t-shirts and hoodies), snacks, toys, plush toys, IT gadgets, and ‘Etc’. Much of the merchandise is themed with licensed cartoon characters following a stream of licensing deals made with Disney, among others. Nothing is too expensive. You can grab a lightweight backpack for 219 Thai baht (about $6) or a licensed t-shirt for 299 baht ($8). The most expensive item in the store is a power bank for 1190 baht ($33). The display inside the front entrance is visible from some distance and always has an occasion-based theme: on its way out now is “summer vibes”, being replaced by back-to-school, with a display of pens, notebooks and other school basics along with colourful exhortations for students to “study hard” and “enjoy your classes”. The store loudspeakers also pipe out a theme tune, unsurprisingly with ‘Moshi Moshi’ prominently repeated. And repeated. Hours later the tune can still be playing in the customer’s head, which is either good marketing or annoying depending on your point of view. Running out of locations Moshi Moshi is currently thriving on new product development and saturating its menu of store location options within Thailand, where it sees the potential for another 40 more stores by the end of 2025. The current store footprint is far-flung, to say the least, from Chiang Rai in the far north to Songkhla 1,700 kilometres away in the extreme south. The first quarter was notable for another milestone: the opening of the first Moshi Moshi stand-alone store, in Chiang Rai. This signals a problem though: Moshi Moshi will soon run out of suitable locations in its comfort zone: enclosed malls with heavy foot traffic. Currently, there are probably no more than about 220 suitable in-mall locations in the entire country and it already operates in nearly 140 of them, 180 by the end of next year. That means growth can’t be sustained much longer other than by opening freestanding locations and/or expanding outside Thailand. (It is also piloting a new shop-in-shop concept called ‘Garlic’ that focuses on home décor products, but it is uncertain whether this can succeed as a stand-alone.) With the Thailand location squeeze tightening, the company is already looking at hitherto undisclosed locations that would give it a beachhead elsewhere in the region in the next 18 or so months. It is difficult to see how it would not be welcome in neighboring countries such as Vietnam that have a similar mall culture and budget-constrained consumers. Further reading: Daiso, Muji, Moshi Moshi? Why this Japanese-inspired chain is taking off