December 29, 2006
The Japanese homewares retailer Nitori recently signed a contract to open its first store in Taiwan at the DreamMall shopping center in Kaohsiung, which is owned by the Uni-President Group.
Nitori, which sells housewares at a similar price point to Swedish retailer Ikea, plans to develop low-priced household products for Taiwan, according to Nitori general manager Akio Nitadori.
Nitori also plans to cooperate with UniPresident to enter the mainland Chinese market selling mainly European and American style housewares, with assessments of the Chinese market currently underway, according to Nitadori.
Nitadori said that he was extremely confident in the Taiwan market. In terms of the popularity of houseware products, Japan is between 10 to 20 years behind the US, while Taiwan is behind Japan, he said.
Nitori has been able to weather a slow economy in Japan over the past ten years, and that in the future, they could apply their experience during recession to the Taiwan market if need be, Nitadori said.
Nitori also appears to hold a favorable outlook for Taiwan as a stepping stone to other overseas markets -- the company plans to set up 15 stores in the next 5 to 10 years.
UniPresident's Dreamtime Shopping Center -- the latest addition to a growing number of shopping complexes in Southern Taiwan -- hosts a number of global retail stores, including Japanese hypermart Jusco, Marks and Spencer of the UK, and Hankyu of Japan.
(United Daily News)
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