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Taipei businesses try to cash in on typhoon closures

When most public venues closed doors yesterday for a second day by Typhoon Aere, some retailers raked in big bucks as consumers looked for places to enjoy the extra "holiday."

"It's so crowded and it's like weekend business here," said Alison Kao (高治華), spokeswoman of the Core Pacific City Mall. "People just have nowhere to go on this typhoon holiday."

Core Pacific, located on Bade Road, started operation at 2pm yesterday and became the first department store to see customer traffic soar to the weekend level, followed by Idee on Nanking West Road at 3:30pm.

Kao said the business yesterday at Core Pacific was expected to rise 40 percent from the same period last week. The Warner Village Cinema inside Core Pacific also sold over 90 percent of its seats for each showing, with food courts and restaurants busy attending to local customers as well as foreign tourists who were forced to cancel sightseeing trips, she added.

Other shopping centers, however, reportedly missed the good fortune.

Although the typhoon impact dwindled in northern Taiwan around noon, Pacific Sogo Department Store, Shinkong Mitsukoshi Department Store, Taipei 101 Shopping Center and Takashimaya Department Store remained closed, with Shinkong Mitsukoshi with 11 outlets nationwide estimated to lose tens of millions of NT dollars per outlet per day.

Seas of people were also seen in the nation's largest electronics chain stores, Tsann Kuen 3C, which operates 147 outlets nationwide.

The company's vice president of merchandise planning, Chang Yueh-lung (張岳龍) said business dropped 10 percent Tuesday when some outlets had early closures amid the strong winds and pouring rain brought by Typhoon Aere.

The situation was different yesterday.

"Outside our flagship outlet in Neihu there are traffic jams," he said yesterday. "Revenues will soar to the weekend level of nearly NT$100 million in total."

The typhoon also proved to be a boon to business-oriented hotels.

"The percentage of domestic customers booking accommodation rose 10 percent, because they said this way, they don't have to worry about food or possible blackouts and water shortages," said Tina Chen (陳甦妤), public relations manager at the Grand Hyatt Taipei.

Far Eastern Plaza Hotel reported a 90-percent occupancy rate yesterday.

"Our restaurants and spa services are all booked, as most customers have their business schedules canceled," said communications director Christine Yen (閻惠瑗).

Film rental operators proved to be another big winner.

"As schools and offices in some areas have been closed these past two days, a rising number of customers have come for home entertainment," said a clerk at the Panchiao outlet of Blockbuster Taiwan, who declined to be named.

"The business is better than weekends," she said.
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