Taisugar to shut its outlets

After annual losses of NT$200 million, Taiwan Sugar Corp (Taisugar, 台糖) has decided to shut down its 124 convenience stores, Taisugar Chairman Wu Nai-jen (吳乃仁) told the Legislative Yuan yesterday.

The company will reach a final decision by the end of April and several hundreds employees are expected to be assigned to the company's other business divisions, Wu said.

The former DPP secretary-general made the comments at the legislature's economics committee yesterday, where the state-run company's budget for the next fiscal year was under review.

Wu said the outlets were generating growing losses.

KMT Legislator Hsu Shu-po (許舒博) yesterday said that Taisugar should have closed its "Million" convenience stores (蜜鄰超市) earlier since the outlets have lost their competitiveness and failed to bring in profits for the company.

Hsu urged Taisugar to focus on its core businesses, including land management and tourism-related ventures.

Salaries and operational fees have put a great burden on the company to keep the 124 stores running, said a Taisugar manager, who asked only to be identified by his surname Chen.

The company may soon seek other retailers to help the company sell its products, he said. Taisugar already has sales contracts with several hypermarkets such as RT-Mart International Ltd (大潤發).

"Taisugar will eventually become a wholesaler, with no retail outlets at all," the manager said.

The company's first Million convenience store opened in 1991 and was limited to selling only Taisugar products.