Retail News
- Retail giants vie for Nanshan market
Date: 17-Dec-2007 Sources: (Shenzhen Daily)
A NEW regional commercial center has come up in the Houhai area of Nanshan District with a large number of stores opening during the past weekend, right in time for the upcoming holiday shopping season.
Throngs of people swarmed into the brand-new Jusco store at Coastal City in Nanshan yesterday after the opening ceremony.
Hailed as the best Jusco store in South China, the new outlet is the fifth Jusco store in Shenzhen since the Japanese retail giant expanded into the special economic zone in September 2002. The two-story store covers an area of 25,000 square meters and offers a wide variety of goods.
'We expect this outlet to become the busiest Jusco store in Shenzhen and we had a good start,'Guo Zhenyu, manager of the Jusco store in Coastal City, said yesterday. The daily average sales amount reached 600,000 yuan (US$81,400) during the three-day trial period prior to the opening, which attracted more than 30,000 people, according to Guo.
'I like the new store. It has such a large variety,'said a housewife surnamed Chen, who lives near Shenzhen University.
'I've been a fan of Jusco for some time. I often travel to the CITIC Plaza to shop at the Jusco store there. But I worry the prices at the new store will go up after the special offers end.'
'I always shop at Jusco when I want some imported food, especially Japanese food,'said Maxy Lanerolle, a kindergarten teacher from Sri Lanka, who had lived in Japan for nine years before moving to Shenzhen in 2002. 'But I feel the setting here can be improved as it's a bit too crammed. The staff at the old stores seem more friendly and ready to help.'
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The store is located in Coastal City, an upmarket shopping center covering an area of 300,000 square meters, which also officially opened yesterday. It has more than 240 stores, including big designer names and restaurants featuring cuisine of different styles. Golden Harvest has opened South China's largest movie screen in the mall, which also has Shenzhen's first ice hockey club.
Right opposite Coastal City is Poly Cultural Center, an upscale mall housing Rainbow Department Store and Carrefour Poly store. The four-story Rainbow Department Store, which opened Saturday, is the local retail chain's first mall targeting high-end customers.
Michael Kay, a British businessman who came to Shenzhen yesterday, bought a suitcase for 500 yuan at the store. 'This is a cool place to shop,'said Kay.
Carrefour, the French supermarket chain and the world's second-biggest retailer, is also vying for a slice of the Nanshan retail market. Its largest store in Shenzhen will open in Poly Cultural Center soon.
The retail giants make the Houhai area one of the three most important shopping destinations in Shenzhen, along with Dongmen and Huaqiangbei.
But the Nanshan retail map expands beyond Houhai. Metro, the German retail giant and the world's third-largest retailer, opened its second store near the High-tech Park on Tuesday. Swedish furniture store IKEA, Britain's B&Q and Decathlon from France have all opened outlets nearby. Yitian Holiday Plaza, an 80,000-square-meter mall in the OCT area, is nearly complete and will play host to international brand names like Zara and Armani.
Nanshan District was once largely ignored by international retailers. In 2000, the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, opened a store in Shekou and domestic retailer Haiya opened its outlet nearby. Residents in Nanshan have been relying heavily on the two stores for their shopping.
After the Shenzhen Metro Line 1 opened in 2004 and the city's downtown area became moving west towards Futian District, Nanshan has become more connected to the city proper.
Moreover, Nanshan is now close to Hong Kong after the Western Corridor opened July 1, the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's return. With the Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint nearby and Guangzhou-Shenzhen Expressway linking the district with the provincial capital, Nanshan has become a vital market for world and domestic retailers.
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