Typhoon Nari flooded the soon-to-be opened Core Pacific Mall (京華城) and forced the management to postpone the Oct. 24 opening, an official from the mall said yesterday.
"Due to the floods, we will announce the [revised] opening date later this month," said Juan Hsin-nang (
Located on Civil Boulevard in Taipei, the 24,420m2 mall is spread out over 19 floors.
While summer estimates put first year sales at NT$20 billion, Juan refused to offer new sales forecast until "we know the losses after the flood waters are removed."
Designed as a 24-hour shopping and entertainment spot, Core Pacific Mall has aligned with at least one thousand retailers including Cerruti Arte, Tara Jamon, French Connection, Wedgewood and Yamaha piano studio. The complex will also feature a supermarket and 13-screen theater complex.
Typhoon Nari dumped rain into the huge building via the two basement levels, which were inundate with 400,000 tons of water, knocking electrical switching equipment out of order, the company said.
Located in the two damaged basement levels are the nearly completed food court areas.
Two blocks away from the Core Pacific Mall is Breeze Mall, also slated to open in October.
The typhoon spared Breeze.
"Typhoon Nari offered Breeze a great opportunity," said Jason Tsai (蔡明澤), a spokesperson for Breeze.
Breeze is approximately one-third the size of Core Pacific and has its sites set on women.
"Breeze targets at female customers between age 18 and 35 and we provide lots of cosmetic and boutique options," Tsai said.
Currently, Breeze has signed up with 350 retailers including Prada, Mango and a six-screen movie theater. With 7,590m2 and nine floors, Breeze estimates NT$5 billion in sales for the first year.
Competition for Taipei shoppers will be a battle for the bargain. And the US terrorist attacks and Typhoon Nari have only further rattled recession weary consumers.
"The impact on shops selling premium goods will be heavier than on those providing medium priced products," said Michelle Chang, a market watcher at Capital Securities Corp (
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