OUR STORY
Family Beginnings
Narai Intertrade Co., Ltd. was originally founded in 1989 by Vassilios and Wasna Lathouras.
Khun Wasna was born to a large Chinese family which owned a grocery store in Bangkok. Vassilios, a Greek businessman, came to Thailand to try his fortune in Asia. While visiting the Ancient City in Samut Prakan, he met a tour guide named Khun Wasna, and the rest became history.
The name NaRaYa comes from the Hindu god Phra Narai, who is more commonly known as Vishnu – the supreme god of Hinduism. The name was chosen for its auspicious meaning as well as for the simplicity of pronunciation across speakers of many different languages.
Because of Vassilios’ background, the company originally started trade in automotive spare parts and electrical equipment, but soon diversified into fabric bags and accessories, for which it has now become famous.
Growing Up in Thailand – Our Success
NaRaYa started with less than 20 sewing machines and sold products out of a 2 square meter booth in the basement of Narayana Phand Bazaar. Today NaRaYa primarily operates out of a 500 million Baht (approximately $15.1 million USD) facility utilizing over 1500 employees and a total workforce of over 4000 people producing fabric bags and other fabric based goods.
NaRaYa’s store locations have always been part of our key to success. We choose locations which are central to shopping areas, and decorate them in bright, welcoming colors with inviting layouts.
How did NaRaYa grow so fast in a market rife with competition? By focusing on quality and diversity of products. One of the first things we noticed was the quality and colour of the fabrics we were able to purchase would change constantly. This was acceptable by local standards, but we knew this would not work internationally.
We quickly realized that to keep our customers happy and to have them come back repeatedly, we would need to have the best quality materials we could get, and make sure the colors were consistent from order to order.
From this point on NaRaYa would focus on quality as one of its key differentiators. To do this we started programs in Thai villages to train local families to build on their expertise in handicraft work. We developed training programs in conjunction with quality control processes to create world class products at very attractive prices.
NaRaYa contracts out to over 3,500 people in Thailand to make our products. We train the families, giving them skill sets and a more reliable and profitable source of income than farming or some of the other local occupations. This creates better products for NaRaYa and builds generations of families who have brighter futures.
Currently we have outlets in many countries, in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
