In 1927, 22-year-old
Tiang Chirathivat, an immigrant from mainland China, started a store in
Bangkok named "Keng Seng Lee" or "baskets for sale", which was the start of an emporium. Later that year, the store moved to Charoen Krung Road, in
Bangkok's Si Phraya District. The store sold a large variety of local and international newspapers and magazines and carried the name "Central Trading Store". This was the first chapter of Central Department Stores' history. In 1973, the Chidlom store opened under the new "one stop shopping" concept. Here, customers could come to Central and buy everything they needed under one roof. In 1981, the Central Lad Ya Branch opened its doors and was the largest of its kind then. Later in 1983
Central Ladprao opened its doors and was the largest shopping mall in Thailand at that time. On 20 December 2005, King
Bhumibol Adulyadej conferred on the company a
Royal Warrant for its services, meaning they could display the royal
Garuda emblem. By 2010 Central operated 15 stores in Thailand and planned to open more. In 2014, Central begin to expand overseas by establishing its operation in Indonesia. Central opened its first department store in the East wing of
Grand Indonesia shopping mall in
Central Jakarta, replacing the departed British department store chain
Harvey Nichols. In 2019, Central announced that it plans to spend at least 10 billion baht between 2020 and 2024 to renovate 20 of its stores into a "lifestyle" concept, following the renaming of
Zen, Central's lifestyle trend megastore brand, into Central. The CentralWorld branch will serve as the prototype of Central's new concept. For the first phase, Central Chidlom and two Central stores in CentralPlaza Ladprao and CentralPlaza Rama II will be renovated in 2020. After
Robinson Department Store was merged into Central, it was transferred to be under the management of Central Department Store. ==Stores==