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30-641: The mall opened as Amarin Plaza in 1985, with the Sogo department store as its main anchor. The building, designed by Rangsan Torsuwan , features a postmodern design combining Greco-Roman elements with a modernist glass façade, which became a commercial success and a sensation among developers but was heavily criticized within architect circles. The complex was operated by the Amarin Plaza Company, which later became The Erawan Group , until 2007, when it

60-844: A Seibu store in Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) Lifestyle Quarter in Kuala Lumpur. SOGO also has been appointed to manage the operations of Mayang Mall in Kuala Terengganu , as well as becoming the mall's anchor tenant. Once located at one of the busiest shopping centres, Raffles City , the Singapore flagship store was closed in 2000 due to the bankruptcy of Sogo Japan. The space has since been occupied by Singapore's Robinsons . Sogo also once anchored Orchard Road's Paragon and DBS Building in Tampines. The DBS Building

90-922: A basement parking for visitors to park their car ( SOGO KL parking rate ) Sogo's second store in Malaysia, located at the Central i-City shopping mall in Padang Jawa , Shah Alam , opened on 11 April 2019, followed by the third store at The Mall - Midvalley Southkey in Johor Bahru , opened on 23 April 2019. The operator, Sogo (KL) Department Store Sdn Bhd, also announced plans to open new stores in Paragon @ KL Northgate in Selayang , and GEM Megamall in Seberang Perai , Penang. It also plans to open

120-626: A deal with the Srivikorn family , who owned the land, and the family partnered with the Wattanavekin family to establish the company in 1982. The building, designed by architect Rangsan Torsuwan , features the juxtaposition of Greco-Roman elements—including Ionic columns, a frieze and cornices —with a modernist glass curtain wall. According to Rangsan, he did not set out to create a postmodern design , but adapted according to what he expected would appeal to tenants' tastes. In fact, some of

150-499: A mall without any MAP-operated department stores, or operated under Daily Foodhall brand. Unlike The Foodhall for upper-class consumers, Daily Foodhall is operated for middle-class consumers. Daily Foodhall opened as part of Sogo on Paris Van Java in 2014, despite located in its extension. Sogo stores that didn't include the supermarket are listed below: Some stores also feature Planet Sports, Kidz Station (both MAP's inhouse brands) and Chatterbox Cafe. A Books Kinokuniya store

180-456: A project's prestige. However, it was heavily criticized within architect circles as an inappropriate use of classical elements, which fit poorly especially in the Thai context. Construction began in 1983, but initially faced problems with its piling system, prompting the owners to switch from concrete drilled piles to a bored system. This then made very slow progress due to the soil structure, and

210-670: A second location at the Grand Hyatt Erawan hotel (a sister property which replaced the original Erawan in 1991), but closed down soon after Sogo in Japan scaled down its international operations in 2000. In 2007, The Erawan Group sold Amarin Plaza to the Srivikorn-owned Gaysorn Group (which operated what was then Gaysorn Plaza on the opposite side of the road), as the impending end of the property's thirty-year lease limited renovation prospects. The mall

240-530: Is a subsidiary of Millennium Retailing (now renamed as Sogo & Seibu ). Since its founding in 1830 Sogo has used as their logo, the family crest ( mon (emblem) ) of a silk shop. The logo consists of a circle with a shape inside that depicts winding the warp on a loom (called ' chikiri ' in Japanese), a nod to the company's origin as a second-hand kimono shop. The word 'Chikiri' in Japanese, also relates to

270-644: Is not related to Pacific Sogo. Gaysorn Village Gaysorn Village (previously Gayphorn Plaza ) is a building complex in the Ratchaprasong area of Bangkok . It also includes the Gaysorn Tower, an office tower block, and the Amarin Plaza shopping centre. The shopping mall building has five levels with more than 100 shops over an area of 12,600 square metres. The basement has parking for 416 cars, doorman and valet parking service. Gaysorn

300-490: Is now Tampines One , while Metro replaces Sogo in Paragon. In Taiwan , Far East Sogo, as a part of Far East Group operates 8 stores. The oldest of these is located at Zhongxiao Fuxing Station in Taipei. In 2006 Pacific Sogo found itself in the midst of a corruption scandal over gift certificates involving the family of Taiwan 's former President Chen Shui-Bian . In October 2006, Wu Shu-chen (the former President's wife)

330-726: The Sogo Club , Sogo Book club , and a new annex building named Beauté by Sogo . The Tsim Sha Tsui branch focuses on designer fashions. Lifestyle International Holdings Limited, the holding company of SOGO, was listed on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited on 15 April 2004. It is a member of the International Association of department stores . In Indonesia , Sogo is operated by PT Mitra Adiperkasa Tbk (which also operates Sogo's sister department store chain Seibu ) through its subsidiary PT Panen Lestari Indonesia (which

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360-581: The Tokyu Department Store . Amarin Plaza also featured the first McDonald's branch in Thailand, which was allocated a 460-square-metre (5,000 sq ft) prime spot at the front of the building. Sogo became the household name by which people referred to the building. However, it faced heavy losses in its first few years as the number of newly opening departments stores brought intense competition. Sogo would continue to operate, opening

390-950: The 22-storey building. Sogo Sogo Co., Ltd. ( 株式会社そごう , Kabushiki gaisha Sogō ) is a department store chain that operates an extensive network of branches in Japan. In 2009, it merged with The Seibu Department Stores, Ltd. ( 株式会社西武百貨店 ) to become Sogo & Seibu Co., Ltd. ( 株式会社そごう・西武 ) . It once owned stores in locations as diverse as Beijing in China, Causeway Bay in Hong Kong, Taipei in Taiwan, Jakarta and Surabaya in Indonesia, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, Singapore, Bangkok in Thailand, London in United Kingdom, but most of these international branches are now closed or operated by independent franchisees . Sogo

420-516: The Civil Rehabilitation Law on July 12, 2000. It has had to divest itself of unprofitable business lines, as well as valuable assets such as several stores in Japan (e.g., Kokura and Kurosaki) and some overseas stores, including ones in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and Taipei. Other overseas Sogo stores survived under independent franchises, through which the Japanese company has also managed to raise capital. In Japan, Sogo

450-625: The Sogo in Hong Kong including the high-end supermarket Freshmart and Beaute @ Jiuguang (instead of Beaute @ Sogo). The store also brought in some very exclusive designers, a lot of which had their first counter in Mainland China such as Thomas Pink , Jean Paul Gaultier and Vivienne Westwood . Currently, besides Shanghai, Jiuguang also opened in Suzhou and Dailan. The Causeway Bay store on Hong Kong Island opened in 1985. The store itself

480-1042: The act of taking a vow or promise. As of 2018, Sogo Department Store has locations in Yokohama, Chiba, Hiroshima, Omiya, Kawaguchi, Seishin and Tokushima. In August 2020, Sogo closed its stores in Seishin and Tokushima, followed by the closing of the Kawaguchi store in February 2021 due to declining sales. Sogo Department stores in China are operated by Taiwan-based Pacific Sogo . Stores are located in Beijing, three in Shanghai, two in Chengdu , two in Chongqing and one in Dalian , as of August 2007. It appears that all of

510-455: The branches have shut down. In 2004, Jiuguang Department Store in Shanghai was opened as a joint venture between Lifestyle International Holdings of Hong Kong, the owner of Sogo Hong Kong and the state-owned Joinbuy Group of Shanghai. The department store is located in the fashionable Jing'an District adjacent to the Jing'an Temple , on West Nanjing Road. The store operation is a clone of

540-416: The construction was again switched to steel drilled piles, which faced more problems as the construction was halted by a court order as the neighbouring Erawan Hotel sued over noise pollution. Despite the setbacks, the project's advance payments provided it with financial security, and it was accordingly able to reduce its loan from Siam Commercial Bank , initially estimated at 270 million baht (US$ 10.8M at

570-478: The help of Lifestyle International in 2004. Sogo Hong Kong Co. Ltd, the Sogo franchisee, now operates one additional store in Tsim Sha Tsui , which opened on September 30, 2005, marking the 25th anniversary of Sogo in Hong Kong. The Causeway Bay store added a large extension, which opened on November 22, 1993. The enlarged store carries items in all product categories across the 15-story building. It includes

600-788: The introduction of the Sogo Foodhall as a modern supermarket concept, before renaming it into The Foodhall Gourmet as Sogo Plaza Indonesia closed down. The first new concept store opened in 2005 in conjunction with the opening of its Pondok Indah Mall branch, and eventually evolved into The Foodhall today. The supermarket that operated as part of Sogo are located below. The Foodhall is also located in Senayan City (as part of now closed Debenhams department store), Grand Indonesia (as part of Seibu department store), and Central Park's extension, Neo Soho Mall. Other branches of The Foodhall are either standalone, operating independently inside

630-550: The other Gaysorn Village buildings opposite and the many other shopping malls in the area. It also has a direct footbridge to the neighbouring Grand Hyatt Erawan. As of 2017, Amarin Plaza featured 55,000 square metres (590,000 sq ft) of gross retail area in its five storeys, which housed over 300 shops. It was particularly known for Thai arts and crafts shops, and also had a large food court. Amarin Tower has 21,000 square metres (230,000 sq ft) of office space for rent in

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660-403: The project owners opposed his design, but he insisted, guaranteeing that it would sell, or he would forfeit his fees and also come up with a new design for free. It was a great success; the project sold 80 percent of units before construction began. The building's design became a sensation among Thai architects and developers, starting a trend where Greco-Roman elements were widely used to signify

690-404: The time), to less than 100 million ($ 4M). The security also gave it advantage over competitors such as Pantip Plaza , which opened a few months earlier. The shopping centre opened as Amarin Plaza in 1985, with the Sogo department store as its anchor—the Japanese chain's first international branch. This prompted Mahboonkrong Center —another competitor which opened the same year—to also introduce

720-721: Was acquired by Mitra Adiperkasa in 2003). The first Indonesia Sogo store was opened in 1990 at Plaza Indonesia . The store was later closed in February 2006 due to the renovation of the shopping mall. The Sogo flagship store and management office were moved to Plaza Senayan , currently the largest store with six levels. All stores are located in high-end shopping malls in Indonesia, listed below. PT. Mitra Adiperkasa Tbk., commonly known as MAP, also operated supermarket The Foodhall, previously known as Sogo Supermarket. The Sogo Supermarket brand, introduced in Plaza Indonesia since its opening in 1990, has been phased out progressively with

750-575: Was cleared by court of accepting vouchers from Pacific Sogo in return for her influence. Due to its ownership, Pacific Sogo brand was renamed into Far East Sogo in 2016, while the corporate name is still named Pacific SOGO Department Stores Co., Ltd. The company targeted Far East Sogo for middle-up to high-end customers, alongside its flagship brand, Far Eastern Department Stores, targeted for low-middle and middle customers, and The Mall, targeted for high-end customers. Kuang San Sogo, located in Taichung,

780-550: Was colloquially referred as "Jumbo Sogo" after its subsequent expansion. Following Sogo Group's collapse and bankruptcy in Japan after the Asian financial crisis , Sogo Hong Kong, including the 40,500-square-meter retail property located in Causeway Bay, was sold for US$ 453.6 million to two local billionaires, Thomas Lau of Chinese Estates and Henry Cheng of Chow Tai Fook Enterprises . The new owners took Sogo public with

810-499: Was founded in 1830 in Osaka by Ihei Sogō as a retailer of used kimono . In July 2000, the company faced financial troubles caused by the unstable real estate investment policy of the former chairman, Hiroo Mizushima, and the collapse of Japanese real estate prices since the mid-1980s. The group collapsed under a debt mountain of US$ 17 billion, owed principally to Industrial Bank of Japan . Sogo applied to Osaka District Court under

840-599: Was incorporated as part of the rebranded Gaysorn Village retail complex in 2017, and underwent major renovations from 2022 to 2024, after which it is set to reopen as Gaysorn Amarin. Gaysorn Amarin is located on Phloen Chit Road , near the southeast corner of Ratchaprasong Intersection , in Bangkok's Pathum Wan District . It is connected via skywalk to the Chit Lom Station of the BTS Skytrain , as well as

870-605: Was sold to Gaysorn Group. It is now part of the Gaysorn Village complex. The complex, originally known as Amarin Plaza, was the first property of the Amarin Plaza Company, now known as The Erawan Group . It was the first real estate venture by the Vongkusolkit family , whose primary business was in the sugar industry through the Mitr Phol Group . Isara Vongkusolkit conceived the project after being offered

900-525: Was used to be located in the upper level of Sogo Plaza Senayan as its Indonesian flagship store, but closed on April 1, 2021. SOGO presently has three stores in Malaysia. The first store, known as KL SOGO, is located along Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman in downtown Kuala Lumpur . Connected to the Bandaraya LRT station by a link bridge, it sits on the site formerly occupied by Suleiman Courts . The SOGO store commenced business on 18 January 1994. It has

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