Uni-President Hankyu Department Store (統一阪急百貨) opened its second Taiwan branch in Taipei’s bustling Xinyi shopping district yesterday morning, attracting thousands of shoppers who waited in line hours ahead of the opening.
Scores of workers were busy guiding the thronging crowd, most of whom were there for the grand opening of the country’s first Uniqlo shop, a Japanese casual wear retailer.
Bill Chou and Philip Wu, college students who arrived at about midnight for a place at the head of the line, said it was the first time they had stood in line overnight.
PHOTO: HU SHUN-HSIANG, TAIPEI TIMES
“But it was worth it. We’ll save NT$1,000 [US$32.50] on the jeans we want to buy, so it’s like we save NT$100 per hour,” they said, adding that their budget for the day was about NT$8,000.
Customers streamed in and out of the seven-story building after the 10am opening, but not -everyone was in the mood to take part in the frenzy.
“There are too many people. It’s as if everything were free,” a passerby named Alice Chen said. “There must be some great discounts, but I definitely don’t want to be in the middle of it.”
The new department store is a joint venture between Taiwan’s Uni-President Group (統一集團) and Japan’s Hankyu Department Store.
“I want to make it the best in the commercial district,” general -manager Wang Po-ming (王寶銘) said, pointing out that there are eight other department stores or malls in the area.
Wang told reporters the newly opened store, co-constructed with an MRT station, was expected to attract 150,000 customers and generate NT$100 million in sales on its opening day.
Uni-President Hankyu Department Store opened its first Taiwan store in the southern port city of Kaohsiung in 2006.
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