Most department stores in Taipei reported stronger sales during the four-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday than during the same time last year, which was seen by retailers as a sign of improving consumer confidence.
Taiwan’s biggest department store chain, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store Co (新光三越百貨), reported sales of NT$960 million (US$29.7 million) nationwide from Thursday to Sunday, an increase of 90 percent over the same period last year.
Shin Kong Mitsukoshi’s biggest competitor, Pacific Sogo Department Stores Co (太平洋崇光百貨), said yesterday that its Taipei stores, excluding the new Tianmu (天母) branch, saw sales grow 20 percent compared with the Dragon Boat Festival last year.
The Tianmu store, which opened on May 22, reported sales over the four-day period that exceeded the company’s target by 60 percent, executives said.
Other department stores in the upscale Tianmu neighborhood also performed well, analysis by store managers showed.
Sales at Shin Kong Mitsukoshi’s outlet on Saturday and Sunday were 15 percent higher than the average weekend take, while the Dayeh Takashimaya Department Store (大葉高島屋百貨) saw sales rise by 5 percent over the average.
The analysis said the new Sogo store did not have as big an effect on the competition as had been anticipated because most people who shopped there were from outside the area.
The Miramar Entertainment Park (美麗華百樂園) in Dazhi (大直) district was the only major retailer to post lower numbers during the extended holiday, with sales 2 percent lower over the holiday weekend than an average weekend.
Industry insiders attributed the weak showing to the complex’s proximity to the Neihu Science Park, which has been hit hard by the global economic downturn.
Miramar’s location outside the main part of the city also means it relies heavily on nearby residents.
Mercuries Life Insurance Co (三商美邦人壽) shares surged to a seven-month high this week after local media reported that E.Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控) had outbid CTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控) in the financially strained insurer’s ongoing sale process. Shares of the mid-sized life insurer climbed 5.8 percent this week to NT$6.72, extending a nearly 18 percent rally over the past month, as investors bet on the likelihood of an impending takeover. The final round of bidding closed on Thursday, marking a critical step in the 32-year-old insurer’s search for a buyer after years of struggling to meet capital adequacy requirements. Local media reports
US sports leagues rushed to get in on the multi-billion US dollar bonanza of legalized betting, but the arrest of an National Basketball Association (NBA) coach and player in two sprawling US federal investigations show the potential cost of partnering with the gambling industry. Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, a former Detroit Pistons star and an NBA Hall of Famer, was arrested for his alleged role in rigged illegal poker games that prosecutors say were tied to Mafia crime families. Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier was charged with manipulating his play for the benefit of bettors and former NBA player and
The DBS Foundation yesterday announced the launch of two flagship programs, “Silver Motion” and “Happier Caregiver, Healthier Seniors,” in partnership with CCILU Ltd, Hondao Senior Citizens’ Welfare Foundation and the Garden of Hope Foundation to help Taiwan face the challenges of a rapidly aging population. The foundation said it would invest S$4.91 million (US$3.8 million) over three years to foster inclusion and resilience in an aging society. “Aging may bring challenges, but it also brings opportunities. With many Asian markets rapidly becoming super-aged, the DBS Foundation is working with a regional ecosystem of like-minded partners across the private, public and people sectors
BREAKTHROUGH TECH: Powertech expects its fan-out PLP system to become mainstream, saying it can offer three-times greater production throughput Chip packaging service provider Powertech Technology Inc (力成科技) plans to more than double its capital expenditures next year to more than NT$40 billion (US$1.31 billion) as demand for its new panel-level packaging (PLP) technology, primarily used in chips for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, has greatly exceeded what it can supply. A significant portion of the budget, about US$1 billion, would be earmarked for fan-out PLP technology, Powertech told investors yesterday. Its heavy investment in fan-out PLP technology over the past 10 years is expected to bear fruit in 2027 after the technology enters volume production, it said, adding that the tech would
RSS