Central Retail Corporation (CRC), Thailand's largest retail chain, has gone European, using Italy as a gateway to expand its retail empire worldwide.

It became the first Asian retailer to really penetrate the continent after buying La Rinascente department store last year.

Vittorio Radice, CEO of La Rinascente, said the company would open two new La Rinascente department stores in Venice and Rome and remodel its existing stores in Milan and Florence over the next five years. It has 10 stores in Italy now.