Fri, Feb 20, 2004 page10

• New York New York to change image

  HOT COMPETITION Larger malls and exhibition centers in Taipei's Hsinyi district are forcing the shopping complex to rethink exactly who its target customers are

  • By Amber Chung / STAFF REPORTER
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  Faced with increasing competition in Taipei's Hsinyi district, New York New York Exhibition and Shopping Mall is planning on targeting older, and hopefully richer, customers.

  Next month, the shopping complex will also begin transforming part of its basement food court into a retail area for women's clothes, jewelry and home furnishings, a company official told the Taipei Times yesterday.

  "We will change our target customer segment to 25-to-35-year-old females from the 18-to-25-year-old generation by further focusing on the American casual style and urban fashion image," said Margaret Lau (劉景雲), New York New York's sales and marketing supervisor.

  The retailer will also introduce new stores into the mall, like Moss for women's clothes and Muji, a Japanese home furnishing brand, Lau said, adding that the changes would be completed by mid-April.

  Labeling itself a multifunction venue for retail and exhibition, New York New York opened in 2000.

  According to Lau, exhibitions and rent from function rooms made up about 50 percent, or NT$1.4 billion, of New York New York's sales last year.

  However, following the expansion of the nearby Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall, New York New York plans to allocate more floor space to retail stores, reducing the exhibition area to 630 ping from 1,280 ping, Lau said.

  The shopping complex has also teamed up with Alexander Health Club (亞力山大), which will open a 1,000-ping gym on the fourth and fifth floors in mid-May.

  "If we don't undertake such an adjustment, we will encounter a shrinking customer base in the cut-throat competition among the area's department stores and malls," Lau said.

  The company expects to boost its revenue to NT$1.54 billion this year, with 70 percent coming from retail sales, she said.

  The opening of Taipei 101 Mall in November last year and of Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store's A9 outlet in late December has created a cluster of shopping malls in the Hsinyi district.

  Lau claimed New York New York's sales grew about 30 percent between November and February compared to the previous year. But the growth has clearly not been felt by everyone in the mall.

  "We saw weaker sales here than in our outlet in Shin Kong," said a salesperson at Ralph Lauren Sports, who asked to remain anonymous.

  "I can easily see sales of up to NT$60,000 a day at Sogo Department Store compared to daily sales of around NT$10,000 here," a salesperson at DC Shoe Co said, also on condition of anonymity.

  The company's success will depend on its ability to change its operational thinking, an industry watcher said.

  "The mall should raise the return rate from its sales area, as it measures only around 8,300 ping, which is much smaller than its major rivals in the area, including the 30,000-ping Shin Kong and 23,000-ping 101 Mall," said Mavis Chu (朱秀芬), retail services manager at CB Richard Ellis Ltd, Taiwan branch.

  "The mall should introduce at least one brand with a good reputation on each level, motivating customers to shop on every floor," Chu said. "It can also lengthen its business hours to differentiate its service from other stores."
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