Dutch cash-and-carry wholesaler Makro shuttered its remaining six megastores in Taiwan without notice yesterday, due to declining sales from the slow economy.
Hundreds of employees showed up for work yesterday to read a notice posted on the door of each location stating the store will close for taking of inventory between Feb. 12 and 18 and hold a final clearance sale between Feb. 19 and Feb. 25.
"Early this morning our general manager announced that Makro Taiwan would suspend operations and around 7am he instructed store managers to put up the notices," said Jenny Hsu (許淑娥), a manager of Makro Taiwan Ltd (萬客隆).
She added that all 640 Makro store employees as well as 90 office workers would be laid off by March 5.
Makro will honor all gift certificates during the final clearance sale, official said.
Makro opened Taiwan's first hypermarket in 1988 and subsequently opened another eight stores around the island through 1999.
Netherland's SHV Holdings NV is the venture's major shareholder controlling a 55 percent stake, while Holmsgreen Holdings of Taiwan (豐群) owns 35 percent and Thailand-based Charoen Pokphand Enterprises (Taiwan) Co controls the remaining 10 percent.
Makro sold its Nankan store in Taoyuan County in 2000 and shut one store in Tainan and another in Kaohsiung in last December, laying off 200 workers.
Yesterday's six closures were in Taoyuan, Neihu, Taichung, Chiayi, Tainan and Kaohsiung.
Disappointing sales forced the Dutch company to close its doors.
"The economic slump as well as heavy retail-market competition has undermined our sales for a couple of years," Makro's Hsu said.
The company began experiencing negative sales growth in 2001. Last year, Makro Taiwan reported NT$7 billion in sales, a 20 percent decrease from the previous year, according to Hsu.
Poor geographic locations were a major problem for the chain.
"Most of our stores were far from residential areas and therefore inconvenient," Hsu said. "Therefore, we decided to suspend operations and to re-evaluate our business model." The company doesn't rule out the possibility of cooperating with other market players in the future, Hsu added.
Meanwhile, competitor chain Tesco Taiwan yesterday said they welcome Makro workers to join their team.
"We will open a new Tesco store in Taipei this summer," said Sarah Wu (吳明君), a public relations official of Tesco Stores (Taiwan) Co.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source