Tops is a grocery chain in Thailand. Co-founded by the then-parent of U.S.-based Tops Markets LLC, the chain is operated under the name Tops Supermarket in Thailand by Central Food Retail, a subsidiary of Central Retail Corporation. In addition to Tops Supermarket, some branches are called Tops Superstore, Tops Market, Tops Market Food & Wine, Tops Daily and Central Food Hall. It is the largest supermarket chain in Thailand and operates 235 stores nationwide.

History

The company was established as CRC Ahold Co., Ltd. in 1996 by integration of Robinson Department Store and Central Group supermarket business and formed a joint venture with Royal Ahold Co., Ltd., a Netherlands-based supermarket operator, owning a 49 percent stake. The stores were renamed Tops Supermarket, which Ahold borrowed from its U.S. supermarket holding, Tops Markets, but did not reuse its red diamond logo. In December 1996 and 1998, Robinson sold all of its invested shares to Ahold. In 2004, Ahold sold its stake to Central as part of the Dutch company's withdrawal from Asia. In 2004, Central converted 20 former Food Lion locations to Tops after their parent, Delhaize Group, closed its Thailand supermarket operations. In 2023, Central's franchise agreement with Japan's convenience store chain FamilyMart ended, and its roughly 200 FamilyMart stores in Thailand were to be converted to the Tops Daily brand.

Store types