Taipei Times: In preparations for entering Taiwan, Marks & Spencer (M&S) formed a joint venture with President Chain Store Corp (
Stephen Walker: We're working on the strength of M&S and the strength of President Chain. M&S has a majority 60 percent share, so we control the operations. What President Chain does is allow applications for such things as for tax, investments and logistics to go smoothly. They also arranged some leases [of the Taipei office and retail spaces] for us.
TT: Apart from the Kaohsiung store, what's your plan for other locations in Taiwan?
Walker: We didn't start our business until January. But by the middle of autumn, we'll have three stores in Taiwan, two of which will be in Taipei. I see those three stores in Taiwan launching within five months of each other. For the two future stores, one will be a standalone on Zhongxiao East Road, in the middle of the prime shopping district in Taipei. One will be within a shopping mall in the Xinyi District. They'll all be around 600 pings [2,000m2].
TT: As M&S is a new brand here, how do you position yourself? A supermarket, hypermarket or a department store?
Walker: In Taiwan, people have very definite, different definitions. Department stores offer a wide range of products from a wide range of brands. So in that sense, we're not a department store because we only offer own-brand products.
Another definition is that of specialty store, which is genuinely quite small, usually about 70m2. M&S is close to a specialty in one sense because everything has the M&S label and everything is own-brand, but outside it looks like a department store. So there is a definition missing there. But we're not a supermarket or a hypermarket.
We provide a wide spectrum of fashion for ladies, men and children. Also, we have food products. M&S in the UK is famous for the quality of its food. We'll bring as many products as we can to Taiwan, except chilled foodstuffs. Our specialty food includes cookies, sweets, chocolates, Christmas items and M&S wine.
TT: Who will be your major rival?
Walker: The whole retail market is our major rival. We're a middle-market retailer. The customers we want to attract might also shop at department stores or at specialty stores. We are unique in terms of size, 100 percent own-brand, and we have sub-brands to help customers differentiate themselves.
For men's wear, for example, we have Autograph the top brand, Blue Harbor, which is more casual, and Blue Harbor Vintage for younger people. For ladies wear we have sub-brands like Per Una, Limited Collection and Classic Collection. Our job is to communicate with the public in Taiwan. In the UK, we have 30 percent of the ladies' underwear market.
TT: What specific consumption behaviors you have noticed to make you believe this is a good market to enter?
Walker: Taiwan is a very developed market, developed across the whole island. The opportunity for M&S is not just in the capital city; actually it's island-wide. I think that's a big difference. Taiwanese consumers are sophisticated, affluent, well-educated and well-traveled. All those things work in our favor as we're an international brand.
The consumers here demand quality, they like newness and they also like innovation, which is one of our core values. We've got a denim that is water resistant. You can pour water and just brush it off. It'll be great when you're on a scooter in the rain.
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