"We've been watching the country closely for seven years, figuring we would be martyrs if we got in too early -- and lose all the opportunities if we got in too late," Zeng said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il made a rare personal endorsement of the economic changes in June, telling factory workers that profit was good.
Economists have differed over just how far the reforms have helped North Korea's economy because higher wages have been accompanied by soaring prices as a result of the market-inspired changes.
And Pyongyang's emphasis has long been on its military. North Korea maintains the world's largest standing army, while most of its 23 million people are short of food, clean water and medical services.
Few shops other than government-run suppliers of staple goods exist on the usually empty streets of Pyongyang.
But the new store could prove an important step towards North Korea's further economic opening, Zeng said.
"Once the country opens to the outside, it will move even faster than China because they are eager to develop as rapidly as China has," he said.
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