April 6, 2006
A newly established subsidiary of Taiwan's retail giant Uni-President Group, Uni-President Department Stores Corp., will cooperate with Japan's Hankyu Department Stores Inc. on the opening of a 19,800-square meter department store in Kaohsiung, Taiwan's second largest city, the partners announced in mid March. While Uni-President will supply the capital for the plan, the Japanese department store will bring its know-how and brand experience to the mix.
In preparation for this cooperative effort, Uni-President Enterprises Corp. and President Chain Store Corp. contributed 30% and 70% respectively to the
NTD 500 million capitalization of the new Uni-President Department Stores Corp. in early March.
Uni-President points out that department stores make up 26% of Taiwan's retail market and the number of department stores here has grown 13% over the last three years. The retailer says it is very optimistic about the potential of southern Taiwan's department store market.
The new department store is scheduled to open in Kaohsiung's Dream Mall in the second quarter of 2007. It will focus chiefly on women consumers between the ages of 24 and 32 and on young fashion-conscious spenders.
Hankyu Department Stores has a nearly 80-year history and runs 11 department stores in Japan. While this is the Japanese company's first move abroad, it says it would consider working with Uni-President on the open of other department stores in northern Taiwan and China in the future.
(ETtoday, China Times, Taipei Times)
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