Shopping mall occupants at MRT stations get break

Stores temporarily put out of business by floods in subway shopping malls will have their rents waived until they reopen, a Taipei Rapid Transit Corp official said yesterday.

"We agreed not to charge flood-damaged stores rent until they resume operations," said Chen Hung-wen (陳鴻文), a marketing and leasing division official at Taipei Rapid Transit.

The statement was made at a meeting held by Taipei Rapid Transit yesterday to settle a dispute with Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) subway shops, which have been forced to shutdown since Sept. 19 as a result of Nari.

There are two major underground shopping districts in the MRT network -- the Eslite Bookstore Square (誠品賣場) and the Easy Mall (台北捷運大街).

Located at the first basement level of the MRT's Taipei main station, Eslite Bookstore Square oversees 20 shops including a convenience store, a coffee shop, a CD shop and an electronic appliance store.

The second complex, the Easy Mall, is in charge of 100 shops that sell clothing, accessories, food and general merchandise.

Flooding put Eslite's subway bookstore under about 30cm of water and may have resulted in losses of up to NT$30 million so far, said Chang Hsiao-chun (章曉君), a leasing manager at Eslite.

The conventional railway system at the Taipei main station resumed service several days ago while the entire MRT system may take several months to restart according to city government officials. Eslite is banking on resuming some sales to rail travelers by offering special sales promotions.

"We might resume operations next month, even if the MRT and air-conditioning system aren't back online at that moment."

Eslite's promotional effort will focus on flogging waterlogged books to consumers cheap.

"Before the end of the year, the store will hold a flood-damage book sale," Chang said.

Another businessman operating a CD store in the square said he can't afford to keep his business closed.

"I have lost NT$2 million in damaged CDs and another NT$5 million in lost sales from the half-month shutdown," said Lin Sung-ho (林松鶴), owner of the Chia-Chia CD store (佳佳唱片行).

The Easy Mall is expected to reopen their doors in October.

"The Tamshui line of the MRT network was not damaged nearly as seriously as the Kunyang line, so we are scheduled to reopen for business early next month," said Hsiao Po-hung (蕭柏宏), deputy manager of the Easy Mall.

The 1.2km long Easy Mall is located between Taipei main station and the Shuanglien station on the Tamshui line.

Lost sales, not flood damage, was the main problem facing mall tenants, he said.

To attract shopping traffic, the mall plans to hold several events to celebrate their reopening.