Penghu County finally gets a Watsons outlet

Vowing to serve the customers who have not been served, the nation's largest health and cosmetics retailer, Watsons, is expanding out of Taiwan proper into the outlying islands of Penghu.

Watsons' new five-story outlet in Makung City covering 100 ping (330m2) is scheduled to open in two weeks.

The drugstore chain will join 18 outlets of convenience store chain 7-Eleven, a Working House (生活工場) home furnishings store and a Mercuries & Associates Department Store (三商行百貨) in the market of 55,000 Makung residents and roughly 359,000 tourists who visit every year.

"It will be the biggest retailer and the first drugstore chain set up in Penghu County," Gordon Reid, managing director of Watsons Taiwan, told a press gathering yesterday.

As the residents, rather than tourists, are the target, the product mix in the new outlet will be slightly adjusted to offer a family-oriented shopping environment, according to Watsons public relations official Elvy Chou (周立婷).

"The fun-related commodities and snacks will account for 10 percent, higher than in other outlets, while skincare products remain the focus, occupying more than 40 percent, health care products 30 percent and cosmetics 20 percent," she said.

"We want to make it a community retailer that can suit local people's needs," Chou said.

The 253-outlet retailer is competing against convenience stores and local drugstores with a pledge to offer diversified merchandise at the lowest prices.

Most Makung people contacted by Taipei Times yesterday had heard that Watsons was coming.

"I might drop by and have a look. But because I seldom buy these things, I don't think I will frequent the shop," said Huang Hui-mei (黃惠美), a housewife in her early 40s.

Another resident, however, expressed interest in the modern drugstore, especially in its lowest-price branding campaign.

"I am looking forward to it, as I have seen plenty of TV commercials. It's good to have an alternative when buying cosmetics," said Lee Fan-yun (李凡韻), a 27-year-old hotel receptionist.

Rival Cosmed (康是美), which runs 121 outlets nationwide, said it had no immediate plans to follow suit.

"There's still a lot of potential in Taiwan proper. But as soon as a suitable location is spotted [in Penghu], we will stretch out to serve the local people," said Anita Lai (賴文琦), public relations manager of Cosmed.